Things I have started doing in the last couple of months

*I am now WALKING and have even started to try and run a bit!

My first significant walk, according to Mummy’s Facebook post, was on the 19^th of April. I walked 3 steps from the radiator to Daddy’s globe, stopped casually to spin it 3 times and then carried on another 6 steps towards Mummy, before falling at her feet (like Daddy J) as the Gramps and Mummy all screamed for Daddy to come see. Since then, there’s been no stopping me!

I’ve got really confident by going to 'Snakes & Ladders', this amazing soft-play place with bouncy castle, ball pit, padded slides and padded climbing frames and sit-and-ride cars. I go with Noah mostly, but even brought Rose, one of my girlfriends with me for a play-date. I now happily storm round even the normal (unpadded) park, rejecting Mummy’s hand when she offers it. I can DO it, Mummy!

*Going up and down stairs all by myself, crawling up and 'crawling' (or flopping on my belly) backwards down, at some speed!

* Swimming...I’m getting quite good at holding onto the side of the pool now as well as going underwater.

*Programming the microwave. I put my bottles on to sterilise for an hour once! Luckily Daddy found them before they melted.

*Closing doors – all kitchen appliances, Mummy & Daddy’s bedroom door when I leave the room, and the front door when we are saying ‘bye’ to visitors (sometimes mid-byes!)

*Saying “Chsss” when you give me anything – Mummy thinks it’s because she gives me ‘cheese’ a lot as a snack and when she says ‘Cheese’ I think it means thank you. But it also sounds like ‘Cheers!’, so they’re not sure. Whatever, it’s caught on and the pareys have started saying it to each other too!

*I can now 'High five!’

*I play 'Peekaboo' behind the curtains (I've been doing that for months, tbh)

*Taking the washing out of the dryer and handing each item to Mummy. I even reach right in to get the last socks for her!

*Kisses – big open-mouth sloppy ones. Sometimes I try and stick my tongue in, but no one seems to like that much, especially Daddy – although it made Grandma squeal!

*Sitting still and not screaming and wriggling when Mummy clips my nails. Sometimes.

*Trying to use a fork and spoon to feed myself (messy, but I’m trying!)

*Tantrums. Throwing stuff, my head back, arching my back, faking tears sometimes...Mummy & Daddy ignore me most of the time though. Spoilsports.

*Stuffing my mouth very fast with small foods until my cheeks puff out like a fat hamster - especially with blueberries, prawns, cherry tomatoes and grapes. Again, a skill from Daddy.

*Freaking out with the feel of sand or grass between my toes. I'm afraid I lose all cool at that point and whimper like a girl to be picked up.

Aside from that. I have gone from cuddly helpless baby to a high-spirited and cheeky toddler in the blink of an eye and Mummy felt a bit tearful it happened so fast.

Don’t worry Mummy, I’ll still love you, even when I’m running away from you in the park!

My First Burpday

On April 15^th I turned 1 year old, which means I had a Burp Day. Not sure why it is called that as *every* day is a burp day to me – but it might have been due to the amount of food that Mummy made for my party!

The whole bash was themed around one of my favourite books from when I was a *real* baby; ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’.

Mummy said it was probably the only time *she’d* get to pick the theme as next year I’d want something off the telly like Ben 10 or something, so she had lots of fun with the details. She made themed party invites (The Very First Birthday Bash”), themed the whole menu around everything the caterpillar ate (cupcakes, chocolate cakes, oranges, apples, plums, lollies, salami, sausages, slices of watermelon, plums, strawberries, ice-cream cones, Swiss cheese – Babybel – etc) and she even found a ‘big green leaf’ to serve some party nibbles off.

Can you spot some of the foods in the picture?

She also got a big beauuuutiful butterfly, just like in the book which floated above the guests, and she took a whole day off work to make me the BIGGEST Hungry Caterpillar cake I ever saw – YUM!

Here I am enjoying the cake whilst Grandad enjoys his wine...

We babies sang and danced to songs (some of which had the word Caterpillar in them, but most didn’t – but I’ll bet not many 1 year olds have The Cure on their playlist?). Mummy also added Daft Punk and 50 Cent to the list (well, he does sing “Go Shorty! It’s your Birthday!”), which is apparently also quite unusual for a baby but I loved it!!!

I got loads of presents - everyone was very kind to me :)

And I had my first ice cream!!! I liked it quite a lot, as you can see...

All in all a GRAPE BURP DAY!

Nursery times...

I know, I know, it’s been aaaages since I last blogged – and that’s because in that time, Mummy has started back doing some work, I started going to nursery too!

She gave up her proper job in January, because she hated it and decided to spend all her time with me, but then she worried about not having enough money to keep her asos habit going, so she decided to go ‘tree lancing’. I’m still not sure what that means, but it makes her happy and I get to spend time either with the Gramps (it’s great, we’ve got to know each other loads better) or at nursery for a couple of days a week.

Daddy usually drops me off and Mummy picks me up and we go to the park on the way home. Mummy doesn’t really know what I get up at nursery, but I can tell you that I have lots of fun flirting with all my carers – they always tell Mummy I’ve been a very good boy (I think my cheeky grin helps me get away with anything – I learned it from Daddy!). They also say I *love* my food - in fact Mummy hasn’t found a food I won’t eat yet - which again I get from Daddy. He moans now that he never gets Mummy's leftovers as I always get first dibs. Well, I'm the growing boy round here, Daddy!

But I digress. When she comes to pick me up, Mummy sometimes hangs back to watch me play unawares. She loves that moment when I finally look up and drop everything to come to her! Sometimes we go home with things I have made (not just dirty/wet clothes...). Mummy joked that the house would now be covered in ‘rubbish art’ (tsk!), but I know she secretly loves them, and Daddy even said they are better than anything he could produce. Which is probably why he doesn’t have *his* paintings on the fridge – ha!