Lightning McQueen

Forget Lightning McQueen from Disney's Cars - here is Lightning McKing wearing his race suit which we bought him from Brands Hatch at last years A1 GP. The size says 3/4 (I assume months) - but as you can see, Joshua won't get much wear out of this little outfit. Staying with the Cars theme we have also purchased a light weight buggy as a more convenient alternative to his full blown travel system - and yes you guessed it, it's a Disney Cars Lightning McQueen (I mean McKing) buggy! PS Bet your all impressed that I have started learning the characters of Disney movies already (albeit "Cars"!).

Joshua is developing very well now and is starting to become a real little character. He babbles away all the time and is getting more and more vocal. He looks like he is also very close to being able to roll over. If we lay him on his belly he can now lift his head high and also get his knees up in a crawling position - he just hasn't quite figured out or got the strength to push up with his arms yet.

We have still resisted giving Joshua a dummy, however he has become a real cheeky monkey with the thumb sucking. Last night I crept into his room to find him sound asleep with his thumb in mouth. So I gently prized it out of his mouth, at which point he simply turned his head 180 degrees (still asleep) and simply popped the other thumb in his mouth!!!! Where did he learn this from??? Nobody around him has ever sucked their thumb, yet he has taught himself that thumb sucking is a pleasant self soother.

Soldier Boy

How about this for a happy little soldier?

Anyway sorry for the lack of updates lately. After the last update regarding Joshua's 2nd lot of injections things started to go a little pear shape. The little man seemed to take these jabs pretty badly and for 3 nights it really rattled him, all sleep patterns out of the window, no feeding using a bottle and long hours of colic type crying. No amount of calpul, gripe water or infercol seemed to make any difference. Luckily Joshua finally started to become himself again by Thursday (just in time for me to clear off to the Czech again!!!). Now I am dreading his 3rd set of jabs in 4 weeks time!

As Joshua is now into his 3-6 month stage then its time for a new wardrobe. Yes out with the old and in with the new. Hence the new combat gear which now fits him. The combat gear and the Top Gun jacket looks fab - and the finishing touch, a pair of build a bear sun glasses.

And finally..............it had to be done.............

Immunisation Pt.2

Today Joshua had his second lot of immunisations - another javelin in each leg!. He was extremely brave again although he did cry a lot after the second needle went in. Needless to say there was some serious soothing by sucking Dad's finger as his trousers were buttoned up! After that it was off to see the Health Visitor to get his bi-weekly weigh-in completed. Based on the growths curves I estimated that he should have been around 13lb 10oz and he actually weighed 13lb 12oz (close enough) - that an increase of 1lb 2oz from 2 weeks ago!. This evening he has been really cranky despite having some Calpul.

Yesterday we took Joshua for a little walk out to Maldon Promenade for some fresh air. This turned out to be a bit of a workout for me as he did not want to stay in his buggy and wanted to be carried everywhere so that he could see all the boats etc. So my left arm is now about 6" bigger than my right (he still won't let me swap arms!!!!). The picture below shows Joshua with a statue of an Anglo Saxon (aka the jolly green giant).

And some more snaps from Maldon........


It hurts me to say that Joshua may be a future Karaoke fan. As you can see from the picture below he was very at home with a Wii microphone in hand!

But then he redeemed himself slightly by having a manly footy chat with a fellow gooner (my brother).

Anyway to end this blog update check out the little dudes Top Gun flight jacket in the picture below - anyone got any baby RayBan's available? Just compare Joshua to the picture of Tom Cruise in his Top Gun flight jacket - spot the difference, yeh you got it, Joshua is taller than Tom already!!!!!

Czech Mate

Well yesterday I returned from the Czech Republic and couldn't wait to see my little boy. It was great to be welcomed home by his smiles. Not much time for site seeing on the trip, but here is a brief preview of what he missed:


And here's a quick preview of what I missed:



















Yesterday Joshua turned 3 months old which means that it is almost 1 year to the day that he was conceived. Now when you stop and think how much he has developed in a year you really appreciate just how amazing life is. Take a look at this sequence of pics.

Day 1 : A typical egg being fertilised.

Approx 12 weeks old:

Yesterday: 1 year since conception, 3 months since birth!!!

The GOOD and the BAD

Lets start with the GOOD: One thing that I have noticed with Joshua is that once he wakes up in the morning, if either me or Tina walk into his room, the moment his little eyes catch a look at us he beams back with the most beautiful little toothless smile. I cannot describe how nice this is as it clearly shows he recognises us both and is pleased to see us . Similarly late in the evening if he is crying in his cot (like he is now) as soon as either me or Tina walk in his room, generally he stops straight away. Just another sign that he knows who we are and feels secure.

Now the BAD: Joshua is nearly 3 months old and I have hardly been parted from him unless absolutely necessary (i.e. that thing called work!). However for the first time since he was born I have got to travel on business this week for 3 days in the Czech Republic. I am absolutely dreading this as it will be the longest I have been away from the little man. So tonight's task is to load up the mobile with lots of pictures and video clips of my little boy. Maybe I can smuggle him in my carry on luggage (don't under 2's travel for free on flights????).

Other news: On Sunday we went swimming again and met the "Mad Auntie Lisa and Uncle David" in the pool. The Mad Auntie had Joshua swim 4 mini-widths on his back. As you can see from the pictures I once again took the dive camera and managed to get an underwater shot of Joshua on his first ever dive (bring on PADI). Maximum depth for his first dive was about 10cm, total bottom time - about 1 second, equipment used - 1 swim nappy, 1 pair of Nemo swim trunks and 2 of Mum's hands to dunk Josh under the water! Joshua was perfectly safe during this underwater photo shoot, it’s the Dad who was in danger. You see without a weight belt I could not hold myself stable enough underwater to take the photo, so I had to rely on Joshua's mad Auntie Lisa holding me under the water!!!!!!! Would she ever let me return to the surface for air or would this become a psycho revenge moment for calling her the mad auntie? At least had it of been my last moments I could have captured them on camera!

Going under............take a deep breath.


Where are the sharks Dad?

Uncle Dave teaching back stroke

Mad Auntie making the little chap swim a few widths.

Threes company........

The Mad Auntie's Birthday

Happy birthday to Joshua's "Mad Auntie". Also thanks again for the new books that Lisa, David and Matt bought Joshua. Also new today was a load of new vests and sleep suits as the little man has pretty much outgrown all his 0-3 suits and is now into his 3-6 month wardrobe. How great is it to be able to bin your whole wardrobe every 3 months and start again!

Here's a pic of Dad with Joshua, Cousin "Short-stack" and the Mad Auntie (birthday girl) herself.

Hummm, is Josh eyeing up the candles or the cake?????

The little dude trying out his Bebe Pod. Now that he almost sits up unaided I think this chair will start getting more use.

Being a Parent

As Joshua nears here's 3 month birthday, I have found myself thinking more and more about what being a parent means. It still hasn't really sunk that Joshua is ours and everything still seems a novelty and is exciting (even the middle of the night feeds and nappy changes still seems like a novelty and not a burden). I am loving being a parent and believe I am learning more and more with each passing day.

On reflection there is one thing that has got me thinking - and that is human sleep patterns. I think humans are inherently born like most animals and have no really concept of night or day. It seems natural for us to sleep when we need to rest rather than at set times during the night. However we spend months and months with our young trying to teach them to sleep through the night just to fit in with society and our social behaviours of night and day. I can't help but think what life would be like if human sleep patterns did not change from birth i.e. having the odd 2-3 hour nap as and when needed.

The other thing which I have realised is just how true it is what everyone tells you about, "enjoy them whilst they are young because they grow up so quickly". To me Joshua is developing at such an amazing rate that it scares me to think he won't be a baby for too long. There is nothing more amazing than watching your child developing and learning new activities, however I find myself also wanting him to stay exactly as he is. I guess part of parenting is learning to enjoy every second you can and to appreciate every moment without holding back their development just because you do not want them to grow up (if that makes any sense). Isn't it funny how you always hear parents bragging about how their child is 2 years advanced in their reading ability, or was walking before the age of 1 etc....... yet on the other hand we all wish they could stay babies for longer.

Anyway enough of my sentimental ramblings..............we took Joshua swimming again on Tuesday and he successfully passed the "dunk" test. Firstly I held him in a seated position with both arms whilst maintaining eye contact and then "bounced" him up and down on the surface of the water whilst counting to 10. On the 10th count I dunked the little man right under. When he popped up he kind of had that look of bewilderment but to my surprise he did not cry. So the next trick was to lay him belly down on a float and woosh him up and down in the pool. Then every now and then I would just submarine him under the surface of the water. Again he would pop up with a slight confused look on his face, but no crying. The little guy loved the swim and was kicking and thrashing around like you wouldn't believe.

Anyway some more pics. Playtime with Daddy.

Chill time with Daddy.

Out on a walk over Wick Park in his pram.

Pudding

Looks like someone ate too much Xmas Pudd over the festive period (or at least too much milk and white chocolate). Today Joshua had another weigh-in and I am pleased to say he topped the scales at a whopping 12lb 11oz (up from 11lb 10oz 3 weeks ago). Last night Joshua also broke new sleep records, after his fresh sea air walk and a very energetic bath he slept for nearly 12 hours straight going from 8.30pm to 7.15am!!!!!!!

The little boy is getting a real character now and is very fun to be around. He has the most beautiful smiles ever which just melt your heart. He seems to play with his hands a lot now, he will happily hold his head up whilst sitting on your lap and he is also gripping/grabbing everything and taking it to his mouth. He also wriggles around a lot in his cot or if you leave him on the floor.

We have still resisted giving the little guy a dummy, but he is getting very cheeky with the thumb. He has mastered the fine art of removing his scratch mittens or exposing his thumb through his sleep suits of a night time to slip in a quick thumb suck.

Anyway here are some more pictures of Joshua getting used to his new high chair that he got for Xmas. Despite being nearly 13lb, he looks so small in his chair.