Goldfish & Justin's Birthday

Last weekend I had a very busy social calender, first up I popped into my cousin Justin's birthday party, he had a Boot Camp party, they all looked like they were having lots of fun running around and doing obstacle courses. I just sat down and watched, sipping on some juice, like a lady.

Then on the Sunday i went to my first ever concert, it was Goldfish at Kirstenbosch for my Uncle Craig's birthday. It was a surprise for him, and there were lots of people there, I had a great time dancing around and shaking my tush, here you can see me with Aunty Kim and Uncle Mark, rocking out, what fun.

Swimming Lessons with Papa

Every Tuesday I get taken by Nana and Papa to a swimming pool, where Aunty Marlene teaches swimming to tots. I go into the water with Papa, and we do all kind of exercises and sing songs.

We are taught how to enter the pool properly, sliding in on our tum tum, and then get taught a lot to float on our back comfortably. 

We also get to sit on a big floating mat and play with some balls together, and then on the count of three we jump off and Papa catches me. It is lots of fun and I love going there with Papa, thanks Papa Andre ! 

Feeding myself and being a general mess !

I have also learned how to hold a spoon, or fork in the hand and thrown food into my mouth, and onto my face and everywhere else in a 2m radius. At the moment I usually just do it with yogurt, which is my desert, but i am pretty sure i could spoon most of my delicious food into my gob. 

On the food subject, my favorite at the moment is fish/butternut/sweet potato/, but I am also partial to chicken/spinach/sweet potato/couscous, I like a strong flavors I do. 

Peek-A-Boo !

That is all.....

Walking

Hi....I am back, sorry it has been so long, but we have been moving house, and living all over the place, and our life is finally back to normal ( ish ). In the past few weeks, I have realized that there is more to life than crawling around, there is another world up there. So i have gone from crawling, to standing, to cruising ( walking holding onto the table ) to full blown WALKING !! 

At the moment my record is 9 steps, but i think by next week, my 1st Birthday, I shall be walking no prob. This opens up a whole new world of pain for my lovely parents, as I am now able to reach things i could never see before, and once I am fully walking, there will be no stopping me causing havoc as I walk around. Be prepared parents !  

Swinging in the Park

Yesterday Dad took me on a stroll on the Promenade in Sea Point. It was a lovely day and we walked along the sea side. There were lots of other babies in prams to see and lots of people doing this thing called jogging, looks like a lot of effort. On out travels we stopped in a park and dad put me on the swing.

I sat in the swing and he pushed me and I was swinging up and down, it was so amazing. I did not go to high, but one day I think I will go higher, a little bit at a time, what an amazing thing this swing is. 

Riding an Elephant at the Zoo

Last week, mom and dad took me to the Zoo. I rode an Elephant, ok, it was not a real one, it was a ride that moved up and down and made trumpeting noises. It was so fun, and I held on all by myself and rode the Elephnat. 

We also walked around the zoo, and I saw monkeys, bokkies, birds, snakes and lads of other animals.My favorite were the Monkeys, they are like little people, just with more hair, very funny.

Forever Blowing Bubbles

I went to a Birthday party the other day, and one of the gifts I scored from the party was a bottle of these awesome Bubbles. There is a stick inside, and dad takes the stick and blows on it and all these colourful bubbles come floating out. 

I sat on the bed, and mom blew these bubbles at me, it was amazing, they floated around me and I almost caught one or two, but sometimes before I could they just disappeared into thin air .

I love these bubbles, maybe for X-Mas someone will buy me one of those machines that shoot lots of bubbles out them, yes, that is a hint. 

Swimming Lessons with Papa Andre

The other day I got into my costume and headed off to my first swimming lesson with Papa Andre. His sister Marlene teaches us little ones how to be safe in the pool and we learn how to swim. 

It was amazing, and I took to it, as they say, like a duck to water. We kicked and swam around and I can see that I am really going to enjoy this swimming thing. I am really looking forward to the next lesson. 

Grandad Walter finally arrives

The other day, I got a nice surprise when Grandad Walter finally arrived from Austria. I have only ever seen him over the Skype machine, where he appears on a screen and talks to us, so it was amazing to finally see him in the flesh.

I was a bit suspect at first, but after a minute we were having a great time, I was honking his nose and scraping my nails across his face in no time. I think we will have lots of fun together...yay.  

Halloween Outfit

Better late than never they say...here is my awesome outfit I wore to a Halloween party. It was given to me by Aunty Misty, it came all the way from Canada. 

The best thing about it was that the bones on the outfit were GID ( Glow In The Dark ). So when I was in a dark room, they glowed and made me look like a skeleton, it was fantastic. All the other kids there where running around in funny outfits also, and had bags of sweets, I cant wait till I can get bags of sweets, happy days.

My Sooper Dooper Mini Cooper

On the weekend we went on a trip to another country called Brakenfell, it was far away and quite dry. We went to pick up a present from Nana and Mom, my Sooper Dooper Mini Cooper, a pink one !

It is amazing, the amount of things it does, you can push so many buttons and hooters and it plays songs and makes funny noises. My feet are on the ground, and I can push myself, only backwards for now, and once sideways. I am not allowed to spend to much time in my Mini Cooper as it can do bad things for my development, but every now and again, I just like to sit in it, and pretend I am going on a Sunday drive, just not to Brakenfell. 

Some more Crib action with Hop Hop

My crib is still a rocking place to spend some time, I have not chosen 3 toys that are my favorites, Hop Hop, Mew Mew and Baby. 

In these photos I am spending quality time with Hop Hop, he is a funny pink bunny, with hilarious eyes that stare me down. I have to choose soon, just one friend who will be my comfort toy, its going to be hard, I dont want to hurt any toys feelings !! 

Eating Solids and my Bumbo

Finally the day came, it was time for me to be introduced to the amazing world of solid food. I have been on formula and breast milk for 6 months now, and it is time for me to get more adventurous. 

The first thing I tried is rice cereal, mixed up with a little formula, made a bit runny for the first time. I was put into my Bumbo ( more on that later ) and mom stuck a spoon in my mouth with the cereal on it.  It was so tasty, I loved it, swallowed it right down and opened my mouth for more. I was quite a messy experience, and I have to wear a bib, or my clothes get very dirty.

I am now eating cereal with apple or pear for breakfast, and for dinner I have either butternut, sweet potato, carrots and am moving onto green veggies this week. Soon I will have chicken, meat, fish and by 8 months will be eating everything, in moderation of course. 

My Bumbo that you see me sitting in is a fantastic invention, made right here in South Africa and popular around the world, it helps me learn how to sit, and is very comfortable. It is a one piece molded foam / rubber unit and it is really a cool seat, I hope I dont out grow it to fast. 

First Time on the Beach

A few weeks ago the weather was different on the weekend, not so cold, no clouds, and it was boiling hot and the sun was shining. The Parental Units decided it was the perfect time for me to go to the beach for the first time. 

We arrived at the beach, put out a huge beach mat and sat there for a bit looking around and feeling the sea breeze. Then Dad took me down to the waters edge. The sea was quite wild and Dad waded in a bit, and dropped my feet into the water, it was crazy, and pretty chilly. I also stood in the sand, with it squirting between my toes as the water rushed up over my feet, quite an experience. Will definitely go back to the beach again, I cant wait.

First Family Photo Shoot

On Saturday Mom and Dad had a surprise for me, we were heading off to our very first family photo shoot. We headed off to Noordhoek to Brenda's house. Brenda is a basically family, and she runs Hearts in a Shutter photography.

We picked up Gran Gran on the way, because mom thought it would be nice to have photos of me and Gran Gran to give her for her birthday.

We arrived for our shoot and were whisked around the house and the garden, the whole time Brenda was clicking away. Dad often stood behind Brenda holding Mew Mew, my favorite toy, and was also being silly, so I ended up smiling and laughing all the time.

It was such a fantastic day, I really enjoyed it and think I gave it my best. After the shoot we went to Cafe Roux for lunch, it was so nice, busy and lively, my first time there and i enjoyed it.

 For some more photos of the shoot, head on over ( HERE ) to Brenda's website.