A welcome return

Our lovely next door neighbours have finally returned from their long visit to France. Valerie and Elise were gone for 7 weeks and Guillaume for 4. It was great to see them all again but especially Valerie and Elise.

Celebrations were required and the children had a lovely time playing together. Hopefully several play dates will be enjoyed by all on a regular basis.

A visit to the canoe pool

Last weekend we went to the canoe pool again but this time Jacob took his friend Ciara. It was Ciara's first visit and she loved it. Ciara has been unable to have a dip before now as she's got a hip problem and has been in several harnesses and plaster. But her parents decided that it wasn't fair she was missing out on the water with it being such a lovely hot day and was rewarded by lots of splashes and big smiles.

Tentative steps

Jacob is starting to take the odd step or two on his own. This was first seen on Sunday 20th and has taken the odd step every few days since.

The last two days he seems to becoming more confident and taking more steps on his own - yeah!!!!!

He's walking well whilst holding onto one hand and is really good walking, or should I say, cruising using the furniture and us.

He continuing to show off his standing skills too and often dances, claps or bends down to pick up a toy whilst standing.

Climbing

I've mentioned before that Jacob is now wanting to climb anything and everything he comes across - I now have photographic evidence!

First of all, the stairs ...

And now his activity table ...

Who know what will be next!

A simple new toy

$3 and so much fun.

We got Jacob a ball to play with, to help develop his skills and for us to play with him. It's so much fun watching him try to roll the ball to us and for us to do it back. He giggles, follows it around and pushes it but also likes to suck it! I think it's because the ball has a little knobs on, that could look like nipples!

Anyway, for $3, it's been well worth it and Jacob loves. Those with small children, I recommend the ball and got it from K-Mart.

Just like his Dad!

Those of you who know Dave well, know that all he needs to do is look at something mechanical and he'll sit and work out how it works, how to fix it or how to put it together. It seems Jacob may want to be just like his Dad!

Dave has bought a motor to put on a push bike and has been attaching it to his new push bike over the last few evenings. Jacob has found this very interesting and has wanted to know exactly what Daddy's been doing ...

Dave was really patient with Jacob and letting him watch and even lean on him at times! It was very cute to watch and it gave me time to get Jacob's dinner ready.

Please let me come out and help you Daddy

Standing Alone

I mentioned a while ago that Jacob is becoming more confident in his own abilities. He is now standing on his own for longer and also clapping, dancing and holding toys whilst doing this. We've found that if we put "The Wheels on the Bus" from Baby Einstein on, he will show off with his standing abilities and dancing for the longest amount of time.

Jacob also loves to be thrown up and down, spun around, held upside down, go to the playground and loves to climb on anything and everything he can possibly find. That will include Dave and I, the sofa and his push along walker. When he's climbed onto or over whichever obstacle he's chosen, then it's time to reach for something he shouldn't!

And one of the lastest "tricks" he likes to do is crawl, as fast as he can, to the stairs. He will wait at the bottom, look round for us, giggles and smiles and then starts to crawl up the stairs. Even with us repeatedly saying no Jacob. He can easily climb all the way to the top but it's teaching him how to come down on his bottom is our hardest trick.

The other countdown is ...

Six weeks until our very special, bestest mates from the UK are coming out for a visit. Yeah!

Lewis and Ju got married last September and we were kindly asked to be best man (Dave) and bridesmaid (me). They were already planning on a visit to Australia and New Zealand, as they have friends who live in Auckland too, but we just tried to hurry their visit a little by promising a trip round the wineries in the Hunter Valley.

So we have our time planned with them well. With visits to Sydney, Hunter Valley, Newcastle, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. And that's all in one week!

Photos and updates will be posted after their visit.

Less than 6 weeks to go ...

We can't believe that Jacob will be turning one very soon. In fact, those who know me very well will understand this urge so well, I had to work out how many weeks there was left until his birthday. And can you believe it, 5 weeks this coming Wednesday, the time has flown by. Dave and I can remember very well this time last year and how I was becoming bigger and more unable to move around and was just waiting for Jacob's due date and now we have our little boy, who is nearly one! Amazing what happens in a year.

Weekend in the sun

Dave and I had a lovely evening out. We went to the restaurant around the corner to where we live and had booked a table by the window. The view was great. We were overlooking Newcastle Beach and there was still a handful of surfers in the water, the sun was going down and the sky looked great.

Our meal was pretty good too. I started with squid and crab, Dave had scallops wrapped in thin slices of belly pork. For our main courses I had pork and chorizo and Dave had the fish of the day (which neither of us can remember) and we both really enjoyed it. And of course we had dessert too. Both of which were great. We decided we wanted to finish with a liqueur coffee but didn't want the caffeine to keep us awake - so we had decaffeinated ones! We both had a great night.

On Saturday we ended but staying in most of the day waiting for some friends from Sydney to visit, although in the end they were too late and we're were meeting with some friends for dinner. All was not wasted though as we had the opportunity to have a little sort out of Jacob's toys (can't believe how much he's got), his books (a whole shelf's worth) and some of our paperwork (a bin bag got rid of!). We also got rid of our glass coffee table with it's dangerous corners and swapped it for a wood chest, with slightly softer corners.

Our friends Tracey, Ant and Ciara came round for one of Dave's curries. Tracey entered the spirit of the night and came in a sari. She looked great. With her dark, tanned skin, she could get away with it but was still a little unsure about going to the car when there was a group of people outside ;o)

Sunday was a great day. We had a nice walk in the morning, Dave went body bashing with Ant and Tracey and I went for a swim without children in the Ocean Baths. Susanne and Oskar met up with us in the afternoon, a bottle of wine was shared and a good laugh was had by all.

All in all, a good weekend.

Busy week back in Newcastle

Jacob and I have had a busy week back in Newcastle meeting friends, going on boat trips and of course having a dip in the canoe pool. We even managed a birthday party for our friend's daughter Eden, she turned one and her mum Cate made a lovely butterfly cake that all the adults enjoyed. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so was unable to capture the party, birthday girl or birthday cake.

Monday saw the start of the week humid and grey but Friday came in sunny and hot, with varying types of weather in between.

Jacob and I have met up with Tracey and Ciara, Susanne and Oskar, the Wednesday Mothers' Group and my Antenatal Group mums on Friday. We went oversees on Thursday (what is termed for going on the ferry over the harbour to Stockon) and had various walks, exercise sessions and swims in the Ocean Baths and Canoe Pool.

Tonight, Dave and I are managing a night out on our own! A nice romantic setting by the ocean, a great menu and no Jacob!!! Looking forward to our romantic night, getting the opportunity to put a dress on and not having to share my dinner with Jacob.

New Year in New Zealand

We had a good time in New Zealand with Darran, Vicki, Hollie and Grace. On the flight there we had some brilliant turbulence that really moved us from side to side, up and down and we dropped a few feet a few times too. Jacob loved it and laughed and giggled all the way through it. I think the passengers around us were pretty amazed by his relaxed attitude to it all.

Whilst on the South Island we got to visit some nice places, see the ocean, snow on the mountains, spend time with Dave's brother and family and meet some new people. It took a little time to get used to the cold nights but the days were mostly favorable to our sensitive souls and by the end of the week it was more like we were used to.

Jacob enjoyed playing with both his cousins but especially enjoyed following Hollie round. I think she got a little worried when Dave kept saying he was hungry and wanted to eat her!

Unfortunately our return flight was cancelled. We had arrived at the airport at 5am ready for our 7am flight on Thursday 3rd January but didn't return to Sydney until 10.30am on Friday 4th January via Auckland! We spent an extra night at Christchurch airport and again got up at 4am to find out we hadn't been booked on the 7am flight and had to run and catch a flight to Auckland. Good job Jacob doesn't mind flying but he was pretty tired returning and slept most of the way. We returned to Newcastle tired and needing our own beds!

Amazing new things

Over Christmas Dave observed that Jacob was standing on his own for a couple of seconds at a time. Of course, every time he said for me to look, Jacob stopped doing it. I've missed Jacob standing on his loads of time but today I saw it for my own eyes.

I was eating some fruit toast, Jacob came over for some (no attempt at eating can be done alone anymore!) and as he was holding his bit, he let go to hold it with two hands. Jacob realised what he was doing, smiled and did it a couple of times more. Each time he does this, it's a step closer to walking on his own.

Jacob also finds fun in every situation, he's always smiling, giggling, making faces, cute noises and is just generally great fun to be with (most of the time! crying is excluded from that statement). I'm also starting to get more snuggles, which is always nice to receive.