Video Post #11: Zachary gets an early Christmas present

Here's Zachary opening his second early Christmas present for his first Christmas, from Marni and Miriam (the first was a hand knitted ball with bells inside from Bumble which he loves to play with):

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we travelled down to Exeter to visit Mummy's side of the family. Zachary very much enjoyed seeing Bumble, Grandad, Uncle Julian, Uncle Aaron and his Great-Nan while we were there.

Zachary enjoys a cuddle with Uncle Aaron

Zachary has been teething recently, so hasn't been his usual happy self. He has rosy cheeks, dribbles a lot and chews on anything he can get hold of. The nights have been tough for the last few weeks, as Zachary keeps waking every 1-2 hours, just like in the early days. We're hoping he'll soon get back to sleeping 'through the night'.

Bumble helps to calm Zachary down

Whenever we're down in Exeter, we try to fit in a visit to our favourite Force charity shop, which has won an award every year for the last 11 years for being the most profitable charity shop in the UK. Zachary had a good time looking around, especially enjoying the fancy dress section.

Zachary steals Ronald McDonald's wig

Then it was on to Uncle Julian's house to have a look at all his recent developments, including a new shed, a fish pond and his retro 50 inch rear projection TV.

Uncle Julian holds a smelly boy

Zachary meets a terrapin

Zachary was pleased to meet his Great-Nan for the first time last weekend. She gave him a woolly snowman which he hasn't stopped looking at ever since.

Giving the snowman a stare

On Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed a walk with Bumble and Grandad along the flood defences (some of the river is siphoned off into a separate channel to prevent flooding) to feed the ducks and swans. Unfortunately there were mainly hungry seagulls, and if you didn't aim the bread accurately, a seagull would dive in and intercept it in mid air. 

Video post #10: Sleeping like a Baby

Zachary is incredibly jumpy, especially when asleep...

Half Term Part 2

A favourite activity of half term was playing our new board game, Twilight Imperium. Zachary watched us play now and again, but didn't quite have the attention span of the first game - a 12 hour epic!

Twilight Imperium - roughly the same length as a 4 month old baby

Zachary enjoyed visiting his Great Grandad in his nursing home, who was very pleased to see him. He also got a lot of attention from the nurses.

Smiling at Great Grandad

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend two different firework displays over half term. The first was in Leyland, at St Andrew's church and also involved eating burgers and treacle toffee (though obviously not for Zachary!). Zachary was wrapped up very warm in his new all-in-one suit (a gift from Great Grandad) and had a wonderful time watching the flickering flames of the bonfire. Just as he was beginning to drift off to sleep, the fireworks began with a loud bang which made him jump and start screaming. A few seconds later however, he was gazing at the bright lights of the display and decided he liked it after all. 

Zachary with Daddy and Uncle Bar before the fireworks

The second display was the annual Caerphilly fireworks with the beautiful backdrop of the floodlit Caerphilly Castle, to celebrate the birthdays of Mummy and Auntie Beckrum. Unfortunately the weather was terrible, but we huddled under umbrellas and Zachary had his own waterproof to keep him dry. The fireworks were fantastic as always and Zachary loved them although he was soon overwhelmed and fell fast asleep despite the bright lights and loud bangs. He awoke once we were back in the dry and had fun being passed around for cuddles.

 

Huddling but happy

Video Post #9: YMCA!

Here's Zachary having a sing along with his Uncle Bar...

Half Term Part 1

We had a wonderful half term and packed it so full of activities that I've decided to divide it into two parts! Here's part one...

The first Saturday in half term was a particularly busy one. The Dobson three visited Hereford for its annual food festival, enjoying the many delights of cheese and chutney, cake and cider. Zachary enjoyed sitting up in the pram (he's now big enough to do so) and watching the crowds of food enthusiasts wander by. 

When the food and crowds all got too much...

Then it was on to Wigan to see our favourite fellow United fan Ashok, with his dad and sister who enjoyed a few cuddles with Zachary...  

Zachary ignores Ashok to look at the TV

We then spent most of half term visiting Daddy's side of the family in Leyland, Lancashire: Grandma Jeanette, Grandad Harry, Auntie Marilla and Uncle Bar.

Pleased to see his Grandma

Zachary loves his Uncle "YMCA" Bar

A highlight of the week was a trip to Brimham rocks in Yorkshire. For those from Devon, this is like a more compact version of Dartmoor (much less hill climbs though), with arrays of oddly stacked rocks well suited to climbing. Auntie Marilla and Uncle Bar loved climbing to the top of each stack, while Zachary, strapped to the front of Daddy, had fun watching them. 

Auntie Marilla, Daddy and Zachary

An exhausting trek

We also had a lovely time visiting a cheese factory in Garstang, Lancashire. Zachary watched intently from above as they prepared the cheese. Mummy, Daddy and Auntie Marilla particularly enjoyed the free samples of cheese afterwards.

Mmm...cheese

After cheese, then came ice cream! Wallings Ice Cream Parlour was a delight to visit, with a huge variety of creamy flavours, the highlight being delicious bonfire toffee. Unfortunately the maize maze and alpacas were not available - we'll have to go back again to see those (what a shame!).

Zachary looks to see if there's any breast milk ice cream

As we left the ice cream parlour, the heavens opened and we ran to the car. Unfortunately Zachary wouldn't tolerate having his hood up, so he got drenched on the way and wasn't too happy!

Look out for part two next week...

Video Post #8: Firework Fun!

Here's Zachary enjoying the fireworks on Saturday...

Boy and his Toys

Zachary is now 15 weeks old and has become a lot more interested in his toys over the past few weeks. He is starting to get bored if he doesn't have anything to play with, which is especially bad if we forget to bring a toy along to church with him! Here are some of his favourites...

Zachary enjoys his swimming book, as it has bold colours and outlines. He likes the Octopus best.

He loves his robot as it has so many different colours and textures.

He doesn't always just play with his toys! Perhaps he will enjoy eating lamb when he grows up?