Day 1 At Nusery

Today Joshua had his first induction session into his day nursery. The session lasted an hour and Joshua was very well behaved. He settled in quickly and was playing with the new toys and climbing all over one of the child carers. He looked a little bewildered at some of the other babies crying, but overall you can see the benefit's he will gain from being around other children. Joshua started crying about half way through the session, then we left for 15 mins to let him settle down and get used to not having me and Tina around. His next session is on Thursday - all building up for his first full day on July 14th.

Anyway still no signs of the little man crawling. He loves wandering around but seems to hate crawling. This is the closest he has been so far. He got into this position and then just sat there crying!

But the cheeky monkey is all smiles in his cot now as he has learnt to get from a sitting position to standing up holding on without any help!!!!

The Seaside

Saturday was such a gorgeous day that we decided to get out of the house and take Joshua for a walk up Southend to get some nice sea air. The little dude slept all the way there and then for about 20 minutes whilst we walked along the sea front. Then just as we turned around to head back, he woke up...............so the fun started.

We started the walk back by going through Adventure Island. We found several little kiddies rides which provided a nice photo opportunity with Joshua. The first ones are of Joshua driving the Lightning McQueen car from Disney Cars.

Then after that it was time for Thunderbird 2 and Thomas the Tank Engine.

After all that excitement it was time for some ice cream (of course not as nice as the homemade ice cream that Daddy makes for Joshua!).

Mummy didn't get away with hiding behind the camera all day - here's a quick pose of Mummy and Baby.Once we left Adventure Island, Joshua had the pleasure of meeting up with Larry the Lobster from the Sea Life Center. Larry was more than happy to have a pose with the little man.

Finally, we couldn't go to the seaside on a hot day and not give Joshua his first experience in the sea. So it was sandal's off and in for a paddle. At first the cold water took him by surprise and he was lifting his feet up. But he soon realised what fun he could have stomping his feet in the water and in the process absolutely soaking his shorts and his Dad!

M.A.D Racing

Yesterday we took Joshua back to Brands Hatch to watch some motor racing. One of my work colleagues (Alex) is part of the M.A.D racing team competing in the kit car series with Des and Mike. The team were kind enough to let Joshua sit in their beloved Kermit machine for a few nice shots for the blog.

Here is the little guy getting his first glimpse of the big green machine.

Alex had an unfortunate incident in the first race and was taken off of the track on the first lap at the druids bend. So extra help was called in to get the car fixed up for the second race. Joshua was just the right height to get down and dirty with the mechanics.

Is this a future Schumacher in the making?

Seems the little man might struggle to reach the gear stick!

Best the little man gets out of the car and lets the team get on with the second race.

Finally here is a shot of Alex in action during the second race. After a phenomenal performance by the team to repair the bent steering rack they managed to get Alex back on the track with just seconds to spare before the start. Their efforts were rewarded with Alex coming 4th overall (and that was after having a spin as well).

Thanks to the M.A.D team for a great day out. If anyone is interested in more info on M.A.D racing then go to http://mad-racing.blogspot.com/

Karate Kid Part IV

Updates for this weekend are that Joshua now has five teeth with the addition of a 3rd top tooth which broke through yesterday. Also for the first time last night the little guy slept right through to 7.30am without having a dream feed. Anyway all that aside - who remembers the old Karate Kid movies? Well filming started on the new version to be released at cinema's everywhere later this year - see trailer pics below!

It all starts with movie sensation Joshua putting on his karate-gi (man that's impressive - a black belt at 8 months old!).


The dojo becomes the living room carpet rug - and the opponent is the old man.


Joshua takes his Dad to the ground - the battle commences.


The little guy very quickly transitions into a full mount ready for some ground and pound (I think he has been watching too much UFC!).


He then savagely goes for the fish hook technique with the fingers in the mouth!

Having no success with the fish hook, Joshua flips around for a devastating arm bar (note how he cunningly bites the thumb tip at the same time!).


At the end of the battle the champ stands proud on his victim (butter wouldn't melt in his mouth).

8 Months Old

Joshua is 8 months old today and celebrated by getting weighed again. The little man (or not so little now) has put on another whopping 13 oz and now weighs 18lb 10oz!!! He is now eating really well (even at breakfast) after having a bad month not so long ago with his teething.

The little guy seems to get very restless if he is laying or sitting around these days and wants to be on his feet all the time. He climbs all over you and shuffles around hardly staying still at all. With just the lightest support in each hand he is more than happy to go trotting off around the house or garden. So it looks like everyone was right on the blog poll - he will probably we walking before crawling!

To aid in his development of walking - the latest purchase is the push along walker shown below. This is really cool as you can lock the wheels so that they have a resistance to stop Joshua building up too much momentum and splatting his nose into the floor. Also the walker plays a tune when in motion and stops when he stops, thus encouraging the baby to walk further.



Also at the weekend Joshua had some of his friends (Millie and Joaben) over for a play. As you can see the 3 of them got on very well and seemed to have loads of fun playing with all Joshua's toys. Joaben is 16 months old and Millie is nearly 4 years old.

First Fathers Day

Well today was my first ever fathers day. But before we get into that the breaking news for Joshua is that yesterday he managed to pull himself up to a standing position in his cot for the first time. Needless to say today's job was for me to lower his cot a level before the little guy topples over the side and comes crashing down to the floor! This ability to stand is clearly shown below with the little man performing acrobatics in his high chair (completely fearless!).

Anyway back to fathers day - you will be pleased to hear that Joshua spoilt his Dad with a nice shirt, a new diving compass, a running jacket, a keyring and teddy bear, a "Dad's A Winner Balloon" and a pooey nappy at 4.30am this morning! Below is a picture of the proud Dad with the baby boy who spoilt him.

A special mention today for my elder Sister who completed the 5km Race For Life and completed it in sub 30 mins. Next challenge for her is a half marathon in sub 1 hour 30 mins!!! Anyway below is a picture of Big Sis proudly wearing her shiny medal which Joshua seems to like using as a teether.

Finally it is not often than multiple generations get together and are captured in a picture. Unfortunately on the male side of the family we have no Great Granddad's still with us and therefore we can only span 3 generations as opposed to the 4 on Tina's Mum's side of the family. But here are the 3 King's proudly standing in front of my new car (the practical 4 seater replacement for the Corvette!).

Standing Tall

Ever wondered just how many people look at Joshua's blog - well surprisingly not that many. The peak for anyone day was on June 3rd with a whopping 13 hits!!! June 7th was our worst with no viewers. Tina's birthday proved fairly popular with 10 hits. The majority of the hits come from Basildon, Wickford, Brentwood as you would expect. But people as far as Penshaw and Prenton also seem to be watching (not sure who we know there - perhaps these people would like to leave Joshie a comment to say Hi!).

Anyway as my first ever fathers day approaches I would swear blind that the last couple of days I have heard the little guy saying "dadadadada". He maybe just making a new noise and may have no concept of what he is saying - either way it is an absolute dream to hear. But for me I am claiming the first word as "dada". Isn't it always the way - the mother does all the hard work carrying the baby for 9 months, and his first word is "dada" - haha!!!


Joshua is also getting very competent on his feet lately. As you can see from below he is more than happy standing up on his own two feet whilst holding onto something. This weekend we plan to buy him a free standing walker to try and help him learnt to walk whilst holding on. Keep checking later this week for updates and pictures of this.

Happy Birthday Mummy

Today Tina celebrated her first birthday as a new mum. Joshua bought her a picture frame, a key ring, some chocolates and some sweeties.

The little dude sitting up proud in his cot playing with his favourite toy - his bed time Tiger!

How about this for a happy little boy..............

The sun is out again, time to get that surf board all buffed up and ready for the waves!

You would think its Mummy who gets spoiled on her birthday. But no Joshua still gets in on the action. Here he is playing in his new tent from Nanny with his new doggie toy from Great Nanny.

"Dad, come and help me fix my car!" - best I get used to that phrase for years to come! Anyway who needs wheels when you can stand on your own (well with a little support).

Little Action Man

It has been a while since Auntie Nicky and Cousin Zoe and Amy have featured on Joshua's blog. So here are some nice pictures from last weekends dog show over Wick Park (unfortunately Dad missed out as he was stuck indoors doing karate gradings!).


Believe it or not these are shorts not trousers! Isn't the "Little Action Man" top cool though.

Zoe giving Joshua his first ever taste of ice cream. The good news is Joshua seems to be over the worst with his top two teeth now and has finally started eating again. Tonight I cooked up a fish pie and he happily tucked into a massive bowl and still had room to follow it up with some mango and pear and some white chocolate!

If Auntie Nicky carries on losing much more weight it will be Joshua lifting her up like this instead of her chucking him around!

Baby Blues

Still got baby blues..................

Everyday it appears our house seems to look more and more like Toys R Us.........where on earth are you supposed to store all these baby toys. The house is also starting to transform into a baby friendly environment. All low level items are starting to migrate higher up, cupboard and drawer locks fitted, fences in place, cooker knob guards and pan shields in place, 3 pin plug holes all blocked up and so on and so on. The next big task is to start making the back garden baby friendly, the front is fine now (that's if the postmen and paper boys ever learn to close the gates behind them!).

As you can see from below I have also been trying to improve my photography skills again (at Joshua's expense).