You get knocked down and you get up again

Here are a couple of very short videos of our munchkin taking some of his first steps.  We're lucky that he's so enthusiastic as he does make a good actor.

And a couple of stills

First of the Season

We have had a couple of Christmas firsts already. The prize for first card goes to Nick & Mo, well done you two. Although there was a minor inquiry into the usage of printed address labels, the conclusion being you were just being smarter than most people ;)

And the next equally important prize was for first package, and this went to Gerry from France whose hobbies include exceptionally long letters and collecting grandchildren. Gerry repurposed an Amazon box, green and prompt!

We love receiving stuff in the post so thanks for those we have received and those en route.

From the office of Dan Daningstone VIP, MB, ETC

And now he's crawling.

Yes you guessed it, clever you, he's now crawling. Not all the time but fairly efficiently.

From the office of Dan Daningstone VIP, MB, ETC

More movement...

Another quick video of the moving machine.

More food barkeep

Some better news of the food front. Little demon #34 is now accepting new foods once again. He almost had a balanced meal. Some minced beef, peas, carrots and rice with a chunk of Farley's risk for dessert.

He's still going so I better go back to my duties.

More munch in munchkin

Well that explains why I thought the little guy was 'slightly off' this week. He appears to have broken through FOUR more teeth. Two more incisors at the bottom and two more further back again at the bottom. That's ten whole teeth. Or ten bucks invested for the tooth fairy.

We thought he was teething and it was nice to be proven correct in the 'why's he doing that' lottery ;)

And Away we Go!

Hopefully this comes out okay otherwise I'll come back later and make it work.

Young Dan has discovered the fun of pushing things around. Mentally and physically of course So this is a good example of the latter.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry First Christmas Party

Dan and I have just returned from our first Christmas Party of the season and we had a great time.  Dan did his new trick of wandering around dragging me by the hand and opening / closing doors.  He also practiced his perennial favorite of smiling at nice ladies until they smile back, a good life skill.

 

It was hosted by one of Jacqui's mum's group which I have infiltrated and there were about 10 pairs of parent and baby, well I suppose infants at least now.  It was surprising to see how much all the little monkeys had changed in the last month.  There was much more moving going on, I remember fondly the stationary months.  They are all a friendly bunch and have made me welcome for which I am very grateful.  He's out for the count now, hopefully for a couple of hours.  A bit late on nap time, sorry Jacqui but worth it. 

 

We'll probably stay round the house this afternoon and give him a chance to wind down, can't have too much excitement in one day.

Physics in Everyday Life

Today I got both ends of the physics stick. First of all I was clearing up after lunch and Dan's spoon of uneaten yoghurt fell on to the side as if in slow motion. I had time to think bad words but not enough to catch it. So I watched with Interest as the yoghurt looped up in the air and landed neatly in a dirty cup standing nearby. Result! As is the case in these little surprise wins I felt better about the world.

I wander back through and try to give Dan some more orange juice, he was still up the table. He quite forcefully declined sending the plastic cup to the floor. Now somehow, probably Newton's fault, the juice managed to go all the way down then fly back up and hit me in the face. Not the cup just the juice. And thus more bad thoughts were thunk.

So there you are, in my mind two very different, unlikely things in as many minutes. Not earth shattering but points of interest in my everyday life. Now I need to wash juice off me.

Oh yes and Dan is nearly walking now. The backache stage for parents as you hold their little hands and they stomp off in search of adventure.

A First Birthday We'll Remember for Dan

Firstly thanks to everyone who travelled from all around Edmonton, St Albert and Sherwood Park. We really appreciate you making it over. And of course it was great to see all the kids and I think they enjoyed it even though they did not know all the other people.

Now things are quiet, the guests have left and Jacqui has taken Dan out for a walk. I'm sitting here about to watch the oilers drinking a beer and finishing off Jenn's spicy chicken dip

Thanks also for all the presents, Dan has so much new stuff to play with, wear, ride and read. And we have a good reason to get out for a meal. Thanks guys. I'll post some pics soon.

Week Two in the Big Miller Household

All in all we're pleased with how last week went and this week is starting pretty well.  I got as much done yesterday as I did all of last week so that's cool.  Dan seems happy, he played on his own yesterday for half an hour while I did stuff and he's good today too.  Naps still going well, I put him down at the weekend as well and that gave Jacqui some lovely, lovely time off.

Today is the last library group thing and tomorrow a Halloween party!  The world is an exciting place.  I still need to organise some more stuff and I'm hoping to meet some people tomorrow who want to go out and do things.  Without putting words into Jacqui's mouth I think work's going well, she's definitely right back in it although quite tired, as the munchkin is a sleeper of dubious effectiveness at the moment.  More pictures in the next few days hopefully including the new star of Halloween.

Aah the weekend......

Wow, that's my first thought. I don't know that I have ever appreciated a weekend so much. It's not been a nightmare week but I was obviously more tired than I thought. It must be the dashed responsibility and some actual physical effort ;)

The lovely Jacqui has given me a lot of time to myself which has been marvellous, thanks bird. Time to go get him up, he's cute when he wakes.

Progress report..... Dad at Home middle of week 1:

Things seem to be going well. He's napping really well during the day. Less than five minutes to get him down then he goes for two hours or more. Managing to get out every day, it's not cold yet but I feel sure I can keep that going. And generally things are going well. We've even got a Halloween party next week, scary indeed.

On a personsl note I must admit that I ache and I am quite tired but this week has gone about as well as could be expected. Although tomorrow I take him for a flu shot. Just in time for his mum time over the weekend!

More importantly here are some pics of the monkey

Down at the farm.

Applauding loudly while stamping on Grandpa Braby :)

                                             Slightly older bath pictures

Oh crap I hit something.

First Day Home Alone with Dan

Now as most of you know Jacqui and I have had a year together at home with our little sprogglet.  You'd have thought that during that year I would have prepared fully for the time when it would be just Dan and I.  You would be wrong.  As it was I was only getting the most important safety things done last weekend and we have both been concerned about getting him down for his daily naps, something that has become Jacqui's domain ever since we came back from the UK in March.

So of course this morning arrived and suddenly Jacqui had to get up early and I awoke properly at 7:45 alone with the munchkin.  I started well, getting up and showering before he awoke, i also managed to get the breakfast stuff ready.  Then he woke up and I got him up and changed.  Breakfast was fine as was getting him dressed.  A short blast of baby einstein then we went out shopping.  Of course we took our time shopping, he likes people smiling at him and many do.

Got home around noon and then we had our first tears when mum wasn't there to greet us.  Luckily these passed swiftly and we had some lunch:
Cream Cheese and cucumber rolls
Baby puff things
Couple of spoons of mush
Grapes
Carrots
Yoghurt
OJ + Water
Not a bad mixture for our first try I think.

After lunch we approached the tough time, getting him down for a nap.  The last time this was tried Jacqui came home to find us both in tears after a failed night time attempt lasting hours.  This time I tried first laying him down and leaving him, not very successful.  Second try was laying with him and putting my hand on him while he cried for a bit.  He was tired though and fifteen minutes later he fell asleep, I'm writing this at just before 2pm and he's been down around twenty minutes, fingers crossed......

All in all things have gone very well today.  The next challenges involve overcoming confidence issues and taking him out into social situations, playgroups etc.  I'm sure it'll be fine but those women are scary :)

I saw it move

Yes a post about baby moves, so I now have your interest and you may continue reading, or I've lost you and you may wander off and find something shiny.

Dan is now moving to some extent. He spins round on the floor when he gets on his front and moves slowly backwards for some reason.

The most worrying thing is the rolling over when he's on the bed. He definitely does this without due care and attention, and has succumbed to gravity on one occasion.

There is some interest in standing up although balance is an alien concept grasped at random, most things are grasped at random actually. And bitten at random as well. Those four teeth are deadly!

Tea for two

Thank you to both participants in our 'Send us tea from England' competition. We have received your entries and they have been evaluated by our panel of judges.

Unfortunately both items were identical and turned up at exactly the same time. This means that the prize of 'a lovely pack of biscuits' will be given to the judges instead. Thank you
for taking part and we look forward to hearing from you in the future, when we need something else;)

Thanks Liz and Carolyn, you have both been upgraded to the executive suite for your next visit.

The Zoo, Paddling Pools and Rolling

We`ve been fairly busy since last I wrote with trips out and baby progression.  Last first and we now have a young lad who rolls backwards and forwards with narry a care in the world.  This has meant that the sides of the bed are to be watched with much all the care in said world.  He has made a downward bid for freedom once and fairly gently bonked his head but he did not even manage to get a bruise from that.  He rolls most after his bath when we`re trying to get him dressed for bed, little blighter. 

His eating habits are slowly improving and he will try virtually anything but eat not a lot.  As I said he is improving and when he needs to eat because he can`t get enough milk I`m sure he`ll be fine.  Sleeping is somewhat random, he is still sleeping in the big bed but we hope to get him cribbified some time soon.  Either that or go through a couple of weeks of pain when Jacqui`s family come over.  Knowing us it will be the latter.

Now back to the misleading title of the post.  We went to Edmonton Zoo on Tuesday, our first visit, and spent a couple of hours wandering around.  I have to say that it`s not great.  Lacking in exhibits and quality of enclosures but the staff are good.  Predictably Dan liked the petting zoo best and did not yank the fur out of any of the furries.  The rest of it did not move enough to amuse him, apart from a  couple of miniature horse which we followed down the path with him giggling away.  He really finds animals amusing at the moment, dogs especially, I`ll let Jacqui fill you in on that though.

Jacqui takes Dan out occasionally to see other mothers and babies for which I am very grateful.  A popular visit is to our friend Natalie with attached baby Mary.  They are the ones with a paddling pool where Dan and Mary splash away as well as trying to drink the water.

...
....
Sorry about the pause, just had to go and move Dan to the middle of the carpet to encourage movement.  I think it will actually encourage complaints but we`ll see.

Tea for two........... please!

We are 'desperately' in need of some Decaf Yorkshire tea bags from the old country. Can you help? We can exchange for maple syrup if required :)

I've invented a new word....

Poopcon (pronounced Poopçon like soupçon).  It basically means a hint of poo, either a whiff or minor evidence on nappy or clothing which makes you change the baby for no real reason.

What a Difference Four Days Make .....

When we went away Dan was refusing virtually every morsel of food and now we`re back he`s sticking virtually every thing we put in front of him into the gaping maw.  Admittedly he`s not actually swallowing much but the interest is definitely there.

He gained this amazing talent on our trip and he has since tasted many things from squid to cheerios.  Thanks to that Bishop woman for the cheerios tip, he may not actually eat many but it takes him ages to pick them up and try them all :)

Other changes include:
  Tantrums if left in the car seat for very long.
  Making silly lalalala noises and knowing he`s being silly
  Understanding mirrors

One other thing to note, I wondered in the past why parents only really talked about their children and very little else.  I now know why, everything you do is around them and therefore that`s all you do, obvious really but at least it answers the question.

Golden Days

We have just returned from our short trip to Golden in BC and a pretty good time was had by all.  We learned from Drumheller that Dan will not put up with long car rides without crying and complaining a lot. Therefore we broke up our journey and stopped in a place called Cochrane on the way there and back, this was a good idea.  Dan was fine for most of the time until the last leg which was Cochrane to home when he cried for at least 2 hours solid.  I was driving but Jacqui had to try and sooth him and put him to sleep so she got the worst of it by a long way.  However eventually he went to sleep and we had a quiet last hour or so.

But less about travel and more about the trip itself.  Golden is a little town in BC created by the railroad and is something of a truckstop in the middle of the Rockies.  It has a quaint little downtown area and a ski-resort called the Kicking Horse Resort, this is where we were staying.  The hotel was called the Copper Horse and we decided to stay there after getting a good offer online.  The offer included a trip up the gondola and the grizzly bear sanctuary  Hotel was nice, staff friendly and accommodations good.  We were staying two nights in Golden so our day of investigation was the one in between.  We went up the Gondola first after finding the sanctuary closed, the bear `Boo`has escaped a couple of times recently and I believe they are strengthening his enclosure fences at the moment..  The gondola ride is a long one and although it was raining the views were cool and it was`n`t too cold at the top.  With Dan in tow we did not stay long, just some sightseeing and a cup of tea then back down.  Lucky we did, a couple who went up the same time as us stayed a bit longer then got stranded up there for 4 hours by the weather!

Afternoon was spent wandering around Golden and taking in a few of the sights, there are actually only a few to take in.......  But we had fun and took a couple of pics, some here and some in a future post.

As well as getting lucky up the mountain we also got lucky on the journey back, all the rain in the area caused a mudslide to close the road back to Cochrane through the mountains the day after we left.  The journey back was fairly uneventful but we enjoyed the trip overall and I think Dan did too.

What a difference a day makes

The last couple of days we've travelled around 600 km or 400 miles and the two chunks have been very different.

The first day young Dan seemed to be teething badly which meant that out of the 4 or 5 hours on the road he was crying or complaining for at least three of them. I know if wasn't his fault but it wasn't fun either ;p

Today we started at roughly the same time and although he wasn't too happy to start with Jacqui got him to sleep and he was down for a good hour and a half. Time enough for us to get to Lake Louise where we stopped at the historic railway station for some good food in fascinating surroundings. We would really recommend the restaurant. Dan stayed awake after dinner and for the whole journey to Golden. And he was in a good mood the whole way helped by careful toy selection on my part.

As I speak he is drifting off to sleep with Jacqui and peace reigns while the rain falls.

You get loads for $7 nowadays

Our neighbours across the road had a garage sale this morning and apart from it being a right sod getting out of our driveway it was a good thing.  I dropped in about 9am and then went back with Jacqui and Dan at 10ish.  They are an elderly couple and they were hosting the sale with three of their daughters.  Luckily this meant a bunch of childrens stuff.  So we spent $6:75 and came back with this:-

Plus a couple of dvds of course.  Now I have lots of things to wash so signing off.

Beware fingers and nipples alike.

Yes you read that correctly, today Jacqui noticed that there is a small sharp protrusion that has just broken through Dan's lower gums.  And there was a mixture of celebration and fear.  No pictures yet as although you can feel it with your finger it's not properly above the gum flesh.

Still interesting times and it may accelerate the move to bottles and eventually weaning:)

And a good day was had by all

Today has been a good day for us in the Miller household.  Dan had a good nights rest and woke up in good spirits.  We then spent a few hours tidying up the house for our upcoming visitors.  Our friends Jenn and Rick came over with their baby Carter who's one whole week older than Dan and we went out for a nice and relaxed lunch at East Side Marios, nice and family friendly. 

We then dropped in on Mission Games and I got some new dice and the Bishops got another game.  We came home then and socialised a bit with Carter showing Dan how crawling is done while Dan continued showing Carter how shouting is done :)  Nap time was approaching so they headed off and we chilled for a couple of hours.

Then early evening we took young spod over to his babysitter and Canadian godmother Jenny where he spent a couple of hours while we went out and had tapas and wine.  On collecting him we discovered that he had not cried once and while he was pleased to see us he was not unhappy to be left with Jenny.  Hooray, many hoorays, especially as she has offered to take him once a week!

And lastly tonight he went to bed relatively easily and we are now looking forward to a little holiday we have planned.  Good times.

Sending the wife out to work

Had a bit of practice sending Jacqui out to get 'er done today while I was left alone with young Dan.

Admittedly she was only gone for an hour but good practice nonetheless. She noticed that the excessive rain was not traveling down the gutters and pipes as designed and a blockage was identified. So today she was forced out the bedroom window with a bucket and rubber gloves. And a job was well done albeit quite nervously. Looks like more extreme measures will be necessary if I want to get my hands on the lovely insurance money.

Safety First

I have successfully installed two safety latches for the ground floor bathroom cabinets. Along with the stair gates at the bottom of both sets of stairs we have begun the journey towards frustrating our offspring in his attempts to explore and learn.

Next steps involve nailing him to the floor and actively discouraging any form of movement.

Too much rain, really now you can stop...

Now this has been a wet summer here in St. Albert.  Very, very wet, and the mosquitoes love it, and I must say I hate them with a vengeance.  I have read about another high power repellent called Doktor Doom, now of course I would have to purchase it anyway with a name like that, but it also has some good reviews from various sources. 

Now I just need to find it somewhere near here.  The website has identified a number of places but the first couple have turned out to be lying absolutely and unequivocally.  But my quest will be successful, either that or I'll order it online :)

And of course Doom to all mossies.

Connecting Blog to Facebook via Twitter

The normal connection to FB from this blog is not very reliable so I'm trying to connect via twitter, let's see if it works.

Drumheller part two, in which our heroes conquer the Dinosaur trail and survive the downpour

Previously in Drumheller.....
We rejoin our journey on the South Dino trail which winds up into the mountains surrounding Drumheller.  The first place of note was Orkney point which looks across a cool valley to Horsethief canyon.

After Orkney point you make your way down to a mini ferry to cross the river pictured above.

On crossing the river the trail becomes the Northern Dino trail and curves gently back down to DH.  We stopped there for a cool drink in the Italian cafe and then began the journey home.  Unfortunately when we reached southern Edmonton it absolutely chucked it down and the van being quite old, we discovered some leaks around the windscreen.  Nothing of major concern but it did make things a bit more stressful as Jacqui was having trouble seeing through the downpour.  However an hour later we sailed into port in St. Albert and breathed sighs of relief.

We will go back to the badlands, but better prepared and preferably wearing full hazmat suits.

Drumheller, land of the dinosaurs

Last week we made the trip down south to the Canadian badlands, the uncrowned capital of which being Drumheller.  We took the big baby van and a tent and drove the 300 odd kms to our hot and muggy destination. 

The first night as I was putting up the tent it became clear that:
1: There were a plethora of Mosquitoes in the area, big ones.
2: Our mosquito repellent didn't.
3: They really like me.

So after the tent was erected I reviewed my battle damage and it was pretty nasty.  These flying buggers also stopped us eating outside, going for walks and generally enjoying our first night in the wilds.  However thanks to Jacqui's resolve we did stay the night and looked forward to exploring the following day.  The next morning came and neither of us had a good nights sleep so we decided to look around during the day then drive back that night, one day early but we had reached our limits for this trip.

We showered and wandered into town for a perfectly good breakfast.  First thing after brekkie we made the obligatory visit to the dinosaur.  You can make out Jacqui and Dan if you zoom in on the mouth.

 then headed a bit more south to see the suspension bridge and then the hoodoos.

We took some more pictures of the rest of the trip but they're not too interesting so I'll just write it up.  We made the trip to see Wayne, this is a three mile trip along a windy road on which you cross eleven bridges, quite interesting.  Then along the Southern Dinosaur trail and I'll continue this in the next post.

Getting your moneys worth

Recently we had a tree removed from right next to our house, quite a big tree and very entertaining the whole process was, here are some pics and a video of said entertainment.

Before:

During:

After:

Genuine Lumberjack :)

Fair warning for those of you expecting babies.....

Now I now that the vast majority of our posts regarding parenthood have been positive, this one will show you the other side, the dark side if you will.  It all started last night when I escaped for my weekly nerd night and Jacqui was left alone with the munchkin.  All good soo far, you just wait.  I returned about 10:30 to a slightly emotional wife who had just been through a self-proclaimed night from hell.  And I now pass on this warning to you all.

It all started, and really finished at bath time which is around 7:30.  Mr Daniel was transported to his bath and a normal bath seemed to be in order with much splashing and himself trying and normally succeeding to drink all the water in said bath.  Jacqui then went to remove him from the bath ....

*****WARNING This next bit will be particularily nasty for prospective fathers, do not continue if you have issues with bodily funtions*****

You have been warned!

.... and discovered a small amount of doody (nicest word I can think of), on second viewing a much larger collection was discovered floating around the bath.  Stout wife that she is the creator was removed from the bath  wrapped in a towel.  Unfortunately this did not stop production and a nappy was obtained post-haste, then another, and another and then a fourth.  Yes this was a four nappy monstrosity.  And then she still had to empty the bath, refill it with clean water and wash the munchkin once more as he had mysteriously got dirty in some manner. 

So there is the warning and ignore it at your peril, doody at bathtime can happen and probably will.  Just hope you don't have to go through the night of Two Baths and Four Nappies.

P.S. FYI Mr Munchkin had not 'been' for three days prior to the explosion, this much raw production was not just a days worth.

The Beauty of Yard Sales

Jacqui went out for her evening constitutional with young spogger tonight and noticed a yard sale in progress nary a block away (about 100 metres for the uninformed).  Now I've taken a bit of a liking to these local events and although I have only visited a few my purchases up to this point include a foam sword and a book of Christmas carols, not to be sneezed at I'm sure you'll agree.

Tonight though broke all expectations.  We came back with a bike trailer in which to dump the aforementioned spogger, and a kids easel.  And what did this treasure cost us you cry, $25 I answer, or 15 quid in old money.  Above is an artists impression of said bike trailer.  The child's easel on the other hand looks exactly like this:

Note: I was unhappy not to find another foam sword:

Fathers Day

Well my first Fathers Day had passed and what did I get out of it. Windows 7 and a new hard drive!

Ok, ok I also a lovely card from 'Dan', and a truly wonderful Strawberry Gateaux from my less than ten stone wife. BTW we checked and she was still below ten after the cake ;).

It was absolutely chucking it down so we did not do much but a good day was had by all.

Blimey three weeks have passed already ....

Not a lot to report really. The youngster is now teething like anything, so sleep issues, grumpiness and loads of dribble. He's still a good lad though. 

Not sure if I mentioned that I had replaced the battery in the van after winter but now I know I have. Turn that into English in your head and proceed as normal. Well it appears that I may have (did) fry the alternator at the same time. 

When I took it to the mechanic it literally died on his driveway. When he came out later to have a look the battery was completely dead. Anyhoo all fixed now and ready for our trip to Drumhella, the land that time forgot. 

Now back to watching Canada play Guadeloupe at the beautiful game.  

Dr. Daningstone I presume

Yesterday in the heat of the midday sun, intrepid explorer Dan Daningstone prepared himself for his greatest adventure yet. Down to the postbox and maybe to the library time allowing. It was a treacherous course but Dr. Dan was not afraid, in fact he was dribbling and giggling like a loon.

Dan the Diner

A bit more success at this feeding business.

Result.

Infestation of Squirrel

While I was sitting in our front room a couple of days ago, I heard what sunded like something scraping at the front door. On further investigation I discovered it was coming from inside the drywall next to the front door.

Always ones for prompt action, we left it for a day to see if it went away but no, it continued. As we were concerned that something may have got stuck and would die there, Richard drilled a couple of holes in the wall and then set his cunning rodent trap - a laundry basket. Lo and behold, we caught a young squirrel, which wasn't quite intelligent enough to go back through the holes in the drywall.


We released it back into the wild but of course a couple of hours later we heard the scratching again. The squirrel, or possibly another one, was back, and this time it managed to evade Richard's trap and came wandering into the front room. We managed to corral it out the front door where it promptly vanished down a hole in the ground under the porch. Now we know where it's getting in. So we're now on a mission to squirrel proof our house before they take over completely.

Swinging

We have a little play park at the end of the road and so, now spring is finally here, we took Dan there for his first taster. He quite enjoyed the swing...

...but the slide was met with some scepticism...

...until he went down it.

A pox on you...

...or on Dan to be more accurate. A couple of weeks ago Dan went down with chicken pox. We had a few days of itchy misery, but fortunately all that remains now are a few scabs on his scalp and a couple of battle-scars on his face. At least that's one less jab he'll need at 12 months.




A spotty Dan with my German friend Tanja who came over for a couple of weeks.

Beware the devourer!

This lunchtime we made a large step for this family and gave Daniel his first taste of genuine pureed organic mush. The old staple carrots were chosen for the process and after only three attempts the correct tool for pureeing was found. The bright, bright orange mixture was then transferred into the little tubs purchased for the use of, and we got ready for the fun and games. It was decided that I would feed him and Jacqui would record the event, probably a smart move on her part.

The munchkin was then attired in his new bib and strapped down next to the table. This is the before picture.

So a spoonful of mush was liberally smeared over his mouth and he was not convinced of the value of this new idea.


So we added some more to rapturous ambivalence.


The next spoonful was also not an instant hit.

Although he was generally enjoying the process.

I said generally

But in conclusion none of the food that went in was actually spat out and there was no crying from anyone involved so a success was declared. This is just the tasting part of the process we've decided to choose so he's just getting a different taste every day as well as getting used to the spoon and food.

Tomorrow we think we'll feed him during our dinner time so he feels more part of it and also warm the food slightly so it foes not feel so strange for him.

Out for nearly four hours, without a baby, someone call child services!

Yeah we managed a whole evening out while young Daniel languished in the grasp of his new German aunty Tanja. This could mean the return of our social lives to some modest extent.

Now we just need to work out how to keep Tanja here for 18 years.

How to get your baby to sleep in his Cot or Crib

The lesson has three major parts.

1: Take one child who has been sleeping with his mother for about six months.
2: Place child in cot one night after about six months, including a couple of months trying to get him to sleep alone.
3: Child sleeps for ten hours, mum wakes in a panic, both parents in shock.

And that's how it happened this week. It's not always that good, but last night Jacqui put him down at 22:30 for the second time and he stayed there until 06:30 which is cool.

He also talks to himself when he wakes up in the early mornings, it's still cute hearing him warbling away in the early hours ;). And he has learned the skill of drifting off to sleep when he wakes, excellent.

So this has gone from a concern about how we were going to make it happen to something else that is just working for us. We really have been so lucky with him

And a note to Gene, you said Sasha just made the change at about six months. It appears great babies think alike.

Jumping EEdiot Boy ;)

That boy he looooooves the bouncing. Unfortunatley I did not get him doing the full psycho bounce but this is pretty cool. He can almost reach the floor now but something is still required for a proper contact.

I took two short videos on two days and I apologise for my breathing, the cold has still not left me.

Drugs make me itch

Some news on our colds, both are improving and the world is a happier place. After a week of one thing and another I went to see the doctor about mine and his basic response was 'You have a cold', not exactly what I wanted to hear in my sleep deprived and slightly addled state, but it was the truth! Secondly he gave me some Tylenol 3, to help me sleep through the sore throat etc. Now this is one of the more serious painkillers over here, it is made up of acetaminophen, codeine, and caffeine. This is the little bugger that made my skin feel all warm and itchy, one of the possible side-effects to cadeine apparently, a strange feeling.

I have to say I felt bad taking the Tylenol 3, it's the same stuff Jacqui took while recovering from having her wisdom teeth removed and I'm sure she was in a whole lot more pain than me. But the long and short of it is, both Dan and I are on the mend, although we are both only sleeping for short periods.

Update Soon

Hi guys,
Apologies for the lack of updates but we've been both busy and sick. Me and Dan have something fluey and I'm not sure who's more pitiful. It's a tough experience for us as there's little we can do except hold him a lot and baby meds when appropriate.

I'll do a proper update with pics when I feel better.

Cheers
BF

Le Daniel est dans l'arbre

Well the first leg of our European vacation is going well. We got here ok after over 24 hours traveling, which was no mean feat. Baby transporting is definitely more trouble than the normal kind.
We've now been in France for a while and everything had been nice and relaxing. Dan has had more attention than ever before, and he's loving it. We have been staying with Jacqui's parents and her sisters have come over to see us along with one of the attached husbands, I'm pretty sure everyone has been quite keen on our new addition.

I'll sign off now for the moment and let you get back to whatever you were doing.
Cheers
BF

Our Son, The Intellectual