It's Christmas Day! Video Post # 15: Zachary shows off one of his presents.

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas; we hope you're having a lovely day. We've been having a wonderful time in Leyland and Zachary has enjoyed lots of new sights and sounds, getting so overwhelmed by it all that we've had to divide his present openings into 3 stages (he's currently asleep before the last stage). 

Going to St Andrew's church this morning was especially exciting as Zachary had a chance to show off one of his presents. Here's a video of the occasion...

Ready for Christmas!

Everything's bought, wrapped and packed, so we are ready to drive 200 miles to see Grandma Jeanette and Grandad Harry, as well as Zachary's Aunties and Uncles in Lancashire. So we are looking forward to spending Christmas week there and then it's off to Exeter for New Year's to see Bumble and Grandad Rob, plus even more Uncles. 

Zachary has been helping us get ready by embellishing the presents...

Pink is his favourite colour!

 Zachary has also been getting into the Christmas spirit in other ways...

Will he get stuck down the chimney?

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Video Post #14: Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

Here's what we got up to on our Dobson 'Christmas Day'.

Feeling Christmassy!

This week has been incredibly busy with lots of Christmas fun. On Saturday we very much enjoyed Cosmeston Christmas, the annual get-together of the previous housemates at Cosmeston Street, with the very welcome new addition of Zachary this year. The day involves a roast turkey dinner, stockings, presents under the tree from Secret Santa and a Christmas film. The girls had kindly put together a stocking and presents to go under the tree for Zachary full of toys and gifts which were very much appreciated. We had a wonderful day and left with very full, happy bellies. Here are a few of Zachary's highlights from the day...

Auntie Phobe and Auntie Vickrum introduce a bauble

 

Guess which is older - the baby or the pudding?

Zachary opens a present with Auntie Beckrum

Celebrating with Auntie Phobe

On Tuesday we headed to Mummy's work to catch up with colleagues and to enjoy a festive meal together. Caroline from work (currently on maternity leave) also came along, bringing the very smiley baby Owen who is just a week older than Zachary.

Zachary and Owen shake hands

Opening presents from the lovely Auntie Kirstie

On Wednesday was the Christmas party at the Gabalfa Baptist Church toddler group, with songs, party food (not for Zachary quite yet) and... Santa!

Some of the other mums and babies at the group

Zachary was overjoyed to meet Santa

On Thursday was the 'Latch on' baby group Christmas party. Zachary enjoyed the tots play session with singing, dancing and playing with tinsel.

Singing Christmas songs with actions

Playing jingle bells

In answer to the pudding-baby conundrum (see caption above), the pudding is older at 6 months, whilst Zachary is only 5 months old.

Video Post #13: Cosmeston Christmas

Here's Zachary enjoying a lovely get-together with the Cosmeston girls for our annual Christmas day...
  

Zachary Out and About

As Christmas gets closer, the Dobsons get busier. Here are some of the things we've been up to recently...

It was lovely to catch up with Marni (Swith's best man) & Miriam, Ben (preacher) & Libby and Dan (usher), Jo & baby Elijah a few weeks ago in Swansea. Marni and Miriam cooked an amazing lamb curry and we played a board game whilst Zachary enjoyed being passed around, particularly seeing Elijah and his toys. 

Playing the drums with Libby

Having a cuddle with Marni

There was lots to see at the annual switching on of the Christmas lights in Whitchurch - from the bright lights of the fairground rides to the banging fireworks, Zachary loved them all.

Bright lights and big sounds make Zachary a happy boy

It was Rosie's birthday at Mummy's work, so we paid a visit for cuddles and lunch. Zachary had a good time being mollycoddled by Kirstie and we're looking forward to seeing them again soon for a Christmas meal.

Birthday fun in the office

Kirstie introduces gambling

We spent the first Saturday in December at the Bath Christmas market. The first port of call was a park and ride with horrendous queues, then into the city centre which as always was packed full of people with the same idea as us. We did have a fantastic day however, although it did get a little tricky attempting to find places to stop and feed Zachary when he was hungry, but the weather was on our side. 

Daddy was pleased at the number of women who commented at how cute he was; he didn't seem quite so happy when I explained they were talking about Zachary!

See if you can spot Daddy and Zachary in the lengthy queue

The beautiful stalls lit up in the evening; bedtime for a tired boy

In addition to the many, many market stalls, we paid a visit to the smellies shop 'Lush'. The sales assistants commented on how cute Zachary looked in his froggy hat and liked him so much that they gave us a free bath bomb for him.

A robot bath bomb for Zachary

Next week will be an extremely busy one as we get Christmassy: we have 3 Christmas parties at toddler groups, 2 Christmas meals (with colleagues and house group) and we're having friends around for some Christmas treats.

Zachary playing with Thomas at the Gabalfa toddler group

Video Post #12: Zachary Walks! (well, sort of)

Zachary loves to stand, with help from Mummy and Daddy which seems quite rare for his age (20 weeks) and sometimes he moves his legs forward on his own.

Just Like Daddy!

Here's why Zachary is just like his Daddy...

1. He looks just like him

A lot of people have commented that Zachary looks like Swith, particularly his nose - according to Grandma Jeanette, he has a 'Boulton' nose (Daddy is disappointed, as he doesn't like his nose very much).

Hopefully Zachary won't need thick glasses like Daddy

2. He likes his food

Like Daddy, Zachary has always fed very well - when he was born he latched on straight away, and since then he has always fed very quickly, taking only 5-10 minutes in the night. It'll be interesting to see how he does when we introduce food (usually around 6 months if he's interested then); we expect he'll eat anything, just like his Daddy.

Zachary tries to munch on Daddy's giant cookie

3. He likes the football

Well, not the football specifically, but he is always very interested in the TV whenever we have it on. Daddy is an avid supporter of Manchester United, which we expect will rub off on Zachary when he gets older (Daddy hopes so).

Daddy and Zachary enjoy seeing United win again

4. He is inquisitive

Although Zachary doesn't bombard you with questions the moment he meets you (as Daddy tends to do), Zachary is extremely interested in the world around him, especially people and lights, sometimes staring at them for significant amounts of time.

Zachary examines the passing cars

5. He likes books

Maybe not quite the same books as Daddy; Zachary likes his swimming book and any other book that has bright colours and well defined pictures.

Reading with Daddy