Catch up

OK. So I'm slack. Not as slack as Daniel though. He hasn't blogged since mid November! I've kept putting it off because I think too much has happened and I haven't got enough time to put it all down. What I should do is what my friend Veronica does and do more frequent short blogs. Shall try doing that after today.

As you can imagine, a lot of stuff has been happening since I last blogged. It took a bit of time to get used to being by myself with Andrew again after coming home from Tassie. I got a bit lonely and homesick but I'm lucky I have great friends in Kirsten and Libby who are really terrific support.

Speaking of Kirsten, the Saturday after I got back we went wedding dress shopping together with Kirsten's mum. I left Andrew at home with Daniel and some milk so us girls were able to have an uninterupted shop together. Not that we needed that long in the end as Kirsten ended up getting the first dress she tried on. Just to be sure though she did go and try others on after and it took quite a while because I think every bride-to-be was out shopping for their dress that morning. It was crazy! The one she has chosen is beautiful and really suits her. We actually went out again a couple of Saturdays ago to choose the veil and tiara so now she's just about all set.

In late January we had some time just for Daniel, Julia and Andrew. It was really just what we needed. We went to stay at Kirra Beach down the Gold Coast for just over a week. I know we'd only just had a holiday but when we visit Tassie we spend a lot of time catching up with other people and don't have a lot of time to ourselves. Besides, Daniel wasn't there very long and that time was REALLY busy. We took Andrew swimming for the first time, and surprise, surprise, he loved it. We also took him to the beach but the waves were a bit strong so it wasn't really very safe. At least he can say he went in the surf when he was 3 months old - a real Queenslander. We spent most of the days going for walks, relaxing and watching some telly, swimming in the pool, going out for coffee, and generally just chilling out. It was really the first block of quality time Daniel had had with Andrew and I made sure he was involved with everything including getting him to sleep. Andrew slept really well down there actually as it was all air-conditioned - 8-9 hours most nights. He didn't sleep so well when we came back as he was getting really hot at night again. Poor Baby. Weather is better now so he's generally sleeping 8-10 hours now.

Andrew and Mum at Kirra Beach Resort - About to go for a swim in his new cossie

My Mum came up to stay for just over a week at the end of February. It was bliss! I really loved having her here and I think Daniel enjoyed it to as it meant I was happier. Mum was great at taking AJ out for walks in the morning so I could get a bit more sleep or just have a nice quiet brekky. Daniel and I had a duet massage on the Saturday while Mum took AJ for a walk around town. She helped with washing and cleaning and cooking. It was great! I really missed her when she went home.

Andrew is growing up so fast and surprising me with new things nearly every day. He started rolling over on to him tummy by himself a few weeks ago - a day after Mum left actually. Timing! He really only started doing it a lot though in the last few days. I even went in to get him up one morning and found him on his tum looking around waiting for me. Problem is he hasn't learnt to roll back over yet so once he's there he can't do anything and gets a bit upset after a while.

Also while Mum was here we tried him on his first solid food. We bought some rice cereal and mixed it with water and he ate it no probs! I've been trying to get him on to formula too but he really doesn't like it. I tried mixing it with his cereal and he didn't like that either. Yesterday we gave him fruit for the first time, apple and peach, and he made some really funny faces but he didn't spit it out - well not all of it anyway. Because he's not eating a whole little tub at once we put it back in the fridge and then he ate it cold later. It's the first time he's had anything really cold and I think he liked it. Probably quite soothing on the gums as we think his teeth might be coming through really soon. Everything is going in the mouth these days!

We've had to buy him some new stuff now he's getting bigger too. A new high-chair and a car-seat have been the big purchases. We've also bought a few more clothes as most of his 000s are too small now. Bought him a new denim jacket a few weeks ago too and it's so cute! Pity it's still too warm to wear it yet.

Andrew loves his new high chair

Wearing his funky new jacket

Well, that's all for now. I think this is long enough. Will try to update with shorter posts more regularly from now on.