Sunday 28 April 2013

Glamping: For One Day Only!

A few of the Cardiff girls went 'Glamping' last weekend; for those who aren't in the know, this is a slightly more luxurious version of camping, complete with your own wood burning stove and beds in your canvas tent. Zachary and I were invited, but thought it best to just visit for the Saturday (otherwise none of the girls would get much sleep!). So, we brought Daddy along too and had a lovely time in the market town of Evesham:

The river Avon runs through Evesham

After wandering around the town, we made the most of the sunny weather by stopping for a picnic by the river.

Auntie Beckrum helps with lunch

Practising his crawl pose after some tasty lunch

As always, Zachary is the centre of attention

Looking 'cool' like Daddy

Zachary is sad that Auntie Bev will be moving to London soon :(

Then for a stroll along the river and a stop-off for ice-creams:

Zachary was getting very sleepy
Resting after some yummy ice creams

We headed back to the Glamping site for a BBQ in the evening, putting Zachary down to sleep on the soft duvet of the luxurious Glamping bed. Suddenly, we heard a strange noise and I went in to check on him; there he was, lying in a huge pool of vomit! The girls had to request a new duvet cover for their bed and Zachary had to be cleaned...

Oh dear!

Having a bath in a box

Happy again!

Saturday 20 April 2013

9 Months and Counting!


Time has sped by and Zachary has now spent an equal amount of time outside of the womb as inside!

Zachary at a pre-birth nine months

Several days later

Nine months after that (how big are you? So big!)

Zachary now seems very close to crawling (and very keen!) and is easily manoeuvring himself to reach things; he can do a complete turn while sat up or on his front and easily lifts his upper body into a 'crawling' pose, but hasn't quite mastered lifting his bottom up yet.  

Zachary looks around to make sure his crawling isn't captured on camera


We've been thinking recently about how to baby-proof the house and this is the best solution we've come up with so far:



Zachary has learnt to shake hands, high-five and wave, usually on demand which makes a great party trick! 


And that's "How" for now


Zachary still isn't sleeping as well as we'd hoped - he wakes approximately every 3 hours, but if he has a cold it tends to be much more frequent. He doesn't particularly like to sleep in his cot, but an easy way to get him to go to sleep in the daytime is to take him out in the car, buggy or baby carrier and he'll fall fast asleep (just don't stop moving!). 

Fast asleep with Philip at the Taff weir

Zachary Loves:

Eating anything that's on offer (and many things that aren't!), plus drinking out of his Tommee Tippee cup which he has now learnt how to lift with both hands and tip into his mouth to get the water out. He also prefers to feed himself, which can be very messy!

Everybody knows, Zachary likes...MASHED POTATO!

Anything that sparkles, including keys, rings and lights.

Zachary reaches for the sparkly end of Wizardora's wand

Everyday objects - why play with toys when you can play with a wooden spoon, TV remote or the sand around the fireplace? He especially likes things that crinkle or rattle, such as plastic bags or jars of pills.

"If no one claims this Haribo in 3 seconds it's going in my mouth!"

Adverts - His favourite is the 'National Accident Helpline'.


People - He still loves interacting with people, being passed around or played with and doesn't seem to mind who is holding him. 

Zachary is especially happy when Auntie Phobe and Auntie Vickrum come around to play with him

Games - He loves peek a boo, especially when he lifts an item in front of his face himself.

Pulling the cloth down to reveal a smiley boy

Zachary Hates: 

Loud noises, especially clapping; he went to a friend's 1st birthday party and cried when everyone clapped after the candle was blown out!

Being left alone: he always wants company so we now have a makeshift playpen (travel cot) in the kitchen. 

Zachary loves having playdays with his little friends

(See if you can work out the running theme for this blog post)


Wednesday 17 April 2013

Video Post #26: A Pinch Too Far!


Baby Philip is the same age as Zachary (nearly 9 months) and they enjoyed playing together a few days ago. However, things got a little rough at times...





Saturday 13 April 2013

A Late Easter Egg

We all had a wonderful Easter, spending the first week staying with Bumble and Grandad Rob and the second with Grandma Jeanette and Grandad Harry.  It was a great break to have so many people to give Zachary lots of attention; unfortunately since we have returned to Cardiff he's been expecting the same level of attention just from Mummy. 

Here we are with Bumble and Grandad on a walk around the Exeter University lakes:

Zachary: snug as a bug in a rug

Zachary enjoyed a few trips to the swimming pool while we were in Exeter. He even went underwater with Bumble and didn't mind! He particularly enjoyed sitting in a baby rubber ring and being spun around when we went with Uncle Julian, but got upset when Daddy made a splash nearby.

Locker: a convenient place to keep Zachary while we got changed

Here we are on a trip to Belmont Park; the train was the highlight for both of Mummy's boys. 

Daddy and Zachary drive a train

This is just before he toppled over

Here's Zachary showing off his beautiful new outfit that Bumble had just knitted for him:


Silly Uncle Aaron!

Bumble looked after Zachary very well and he very much enjoyed her company:


Zachary finds Bumble hilarious!

To celebrate Zachary's Great-Nan's 80th birthday, we all had a wonderful trip to A La Ronde - an unusual National Trust country house which has 16 sides and has rooms decorated with shells; the views from the top were also lovely:

The sea at Exmouth

Family gathering in front of the country house

Uncle Jules once again gets landed with an upset boy (or did he cause it?)

Zachary dresses up as the future Tsar of Russia

Then we drove up to Leyland for another wonderful week of activity. It was a delight to also see Uncle Humphrey and Auntie Amanda for the first few days:


It would seem that Auntie Amanda isn't as interested in Zachary's new toy as he is!


Grandma Jeanette plays a little trick on Zachary but he can't work out what it is!

Zachary enjoyed visiting his Great-Grandad in the day room and yet again had a lot of attention from the nurses.

Great-Grandad loves to see Zachary

Zachary had fun 'helping' Uncle Bar with his piano playing...

Zachary can't quite manage to get the pressure needed to play a note
 
Munching on some broccoli with the help of Uncle Bar

For me (perhaps not Zachary), the highlight of the week was walking up Pendle Hill as the views were stunning. We got a little confused with directions but made it up eventually. The paths were lined with snow but it wasn't too treacherous and Zachary was carried in the rucksack by Daddy and Uncle Bar.

Stopping for a breather

Beautiful views over the reservoir

Grandad Harry and Daddy look up at Pendle Hill ahead and wonder how steep it's going to get

It was incredibly cold and windy at the top which made Zachary quite upset, especially as he had been asleep for most of the journey upwards, so we were grateful of a quick way down some steps at the front of the hill, even though it made our legs turn to jelly.

Tired but warm, once we reached the bottom again

Another day we visited Auntie Isobel who had an array of delightful cakes and biscuits; Zachary was content with his bread sticks and banana. Later we saw some Alpacas, bought some ice cream and went to the beach at Fleetwood.

It was a little too cold for Zachary to appreciate the beach playground

Don't tell Great-Grandad that you got to his birthday present first!

Thursday 11 April 2013

Saturday 6 April 2013

Dopplegangers

Here are a few baby photos of Mummy and Daddy to compare with how Zachary looks now. See if you can guess who's who (and which photos are the real Zachary):