Language Progression

For quite a while now (almost since he could "talk") Josh has been saying "da" for Dartanian (our dog). Then a week ago it progressed to "da da". This afternoon when Tom came home he said " da-ngen".

Homemade

Since aquiring one of Sophie Gray's cookbooks a couple of months ago, I have really been getting into making homemade products.

I have been making my own yoghurt, creme frachie, buttermilk, chocolate spread. As well as breads (though I had done this before).

I really enjoy it & it's much cheaper than buying them (& healthier too) Though it is a little bit of trial & error with the cultured items as they require the right temperature to culture at. In fact I'm thinking I might have to wait until summer again to make them as I haven't been having much luck lately.

Unfortunately Tom doesn't share my enthusiasm & can't really seem to see it's worth the bother.

Full of Surprises

Joshua has been full of surprises lately.

It started 2 weeks ago when I decided to cut out his afternoon nap bottle. I expected there to be a lot of protesting & refusing to sleep, but this hasn't been the case. He has a cup of milk with his lunch & then is quite happy to lie in his cot & go to sleep. The only problem we had was that for the first few days he would only sleep 1hr (compared to 2-3hrs). But this seems to have settled & he generally sleeps 1.5 -2hrs.

Then last weekend he surprised us by climbing up into his highchair all by himslef (video coming soon). In a way it shouldn't really have surprised me as he's been extremely interested in climbing the last few weeks & "practicing" quite a bit on any chair around (though they have been too high for him to be able to climb).

Lastly, with the cold weather coming it is starting to get to the stage where he really should wear mittens when outside. I had been putting it off though as I was sure he would just pull them straight back off again. Yesterday though we had to go into town & do a bit of walking outside, & it was bitterly cold & wet & windy, so I put the mittens on him. To my amazement he didn't pull them off!! At first he just sat there holding his hands up in the air. Then he seemed to get used to the idea & just moved his hands around normally.

In the Land of the Living

Yes we are still alive!! I read recently that a good blog should have 3-4 posts a week. Hmmm...not doing too well in that department lately. Not that there isn't anything to write about. Reasons include:

1) A very active 1yr old who demands attention nearly every waking moment.

2) Same 1yr old is magnetically attracted to computer & insists on pressing all the buttons, making it very hard to write.

3) A sense of feeling very unorganised at the moment & not able to find time for everything.

Anyway I will try and be a bit more regular in writing (though I'm not sure I'll be able to reach 3-4 times a week).