Little clapping boy, and a week till he's 1!!

Duncan wasn't clapping while other children his age were, I became paranoid about this , and started to question every single silly thing... within a week he was! And now he does it all the time which is very cute. This made me realise even more so, that every child is so different, and what one might be doing at 11 months, the other may take another month to master it! So black mark for me, for becoming 'one' of those paranoid mummies!!

Duncan has 8 teeth, and hopefully having a little break from them coming in, as he has been so unhappy with them for ages! He has become funny with his food recently, and is trying to gain some independence on the feeding front. He can't feed himself with a spoon, but will happily finger food almost anything. Bread sticks and homous are a favourite, closely followed by raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, but his staple diet does seem to be petit filous!!

I can't believe it has been a year since he was born. It seems like ages ago since he was lying sleeping as a new born, but on the other hand, he has suddenly grown into this little boy who we

love soooo much!

He is such a smiler at the moment, and really knows how to work a room! He is so busy staring at people, trying to catch their attention, just so he can give them a big smile! He is having a little birthday party tomorrow, with his little pals from playgroup. Here is a photo of him on his new trike. 1 week before his birthday.

Crawling here there and everywhere

Crawling has quickened, and he is pulling himself up onto everything. He may be walking before Christmas? But he has a nice new pair of shoes to help on his way! That is him over 10 months now. He has developed so much in the last month. We had our first cold around 9 months, and it was a nightmare..but we got over it. He is now 'talking' ...not proper talking, more garble...but it is very cute, and we think dada might be one of the words! He is still not too keen on lumpy food, but is trying to feed himself!So I will need to look into more finger food ideas!We have 6 teeth, and maybe 2 coming in next to his top front ones, but nothing broken through yet!He is starting to love books, and enjoys bedtime stories now which is nice.

bruchetta anyone?

Mealtimes have been a nightmare of recent. He has been eating nothing I give him, which is becoming very frustrating. His teeth must be so sore, yogurt seems to be the only soothing thing! I tried him with a bit of hummus and bruchetta...and it was a big hit. So when he starts fussing, I have been just giving him a that to chew on untill he calms down!!!

Mr Tractor Man

A very happy wee man yesterday when he got to sit on his daddies knee in the tractor!

On the move..proper crawling, and cruising!

Crawling one day, then an expert at it the next!! I can't believe how fast, and mobile he is becoming...and he is constantly pulling himself up onto things...stairs (luckily just 1st step!) (stair gate getting fitted asap!) sofa and boxes!! His 2 front teeth are looking huge as they travel down his gum too. Poor wee man!

Crawling, 2 front teeth & bathtime gymnastics

Its been an eventful week for baby D. He has started crawling!!! He has just passed the 9 month milestone, and turned swimming across the floor into proper crawling! He is still a little frustrated, but is managing to get form A to B...I'm sure as the days pass, his crawl will become much faster. He has also started pulling himself up onto furniture...really, anything that he can grab!

He has 4 bottom teeth, and 2 big top ones just cutting through! They are unfortunately giving him a bit of grief, and he has been waking through the night, and is a little off his food. His nappies have been violent with these 2 top teeth too!

He is so active at the moment, and a simple nappy change turns into a huge wressle!!It is impossible to keep him still, and in one place. Bathtime has turned into an energetic event, and a simple wash and splash about, turns into a rather exciting gymnastics session!! He crawls about the bath, determined to grab the taps, the plug chain, as well as stand up...all at great speed!

Pulling myself up!

Duncan's new name is Mr Wriggler....continuously moving about, and it is becoming impossible to change a nappy! He is so close to crawling, and shuffles everywhere! He is 9 months in a few days!He still has 3 teeth, but i think the top ones are giving him aggro. He has started to pull himself up onto things, as well as standing up in his cot!! This morning he was facing the other way in his cot...so I don't know what went on last night...lots of moving I'm sure. Jock continues to make him laugh uncontrollably which is lovely to watch!

"One day I'll drive this..."

Levers, Knobs, Levers and knobs...All his favourite things!! This pic is of him sitting in the combine for the first time. He was instantly drawn to all the levers and knobs to the right of the steering wheel. He really leans forward, on a mission, determined to pull and press! We have also been swimming to the peak in Stirling lots, and in their baby pool, they have levers that make water come out of plastic animals etc...well, he just has to pull them, and would almost swim over to them if he could!!!He actually pulled himself out of the water to a standing position!!

Harvest buddy

Its been a busy spell harvesting recently, and Duncan , Jock and I have ferried many meals on wheels out to the fields. He loves to sit amongst the crop, pull their heads, and watch the combine work. He isn't scared by the noise at all!

Nappy off time with his favourite toy!

The sun has been shining this week, so we have had many hours playing in the garden! When we're outside and its nice, I quite often take his nappy off, and let him breath!It must be such a nice feeling not having a nappy stuck to you!! He is currently loving his farm tractor toy at the moment. He takes all the animals out of the trailer, always going for the cow first!! His new thing is banging objects with an object hes holding! Its great to watch all his new little things, and how hes developing!

The world is his oyster....part2!

He loves his walker at the moment, and loves to whizz about in it in our cottage, and over at the farmhouse...but he loves nothing better than space. So when either of us are down in the shed, we take him in the walker and let him roam about and zoom after jock!

Tooth number 3

Today I really started to notice tooth number 3 cutting through. He has been a tiny bit wingy, and the calpol has been used...but nothing like the screams of tooth 1 & 2!! He has such a sore bite at the moment, and has bruised my arm with it! We'll need to replace flesh with an apple or something i think!

Beach Baby

Mid August, he had his first beach experience! He loved it! Lots of scraping and digging of sand was done! It won't be long till he has his own bucket and spade, and is making sandcastles!! Growing up by the sea , and spending days by the beach was such a big part of my childhood, and I want it to be a big part of his too!

Bramble time

The hedgerows are becoming laden with ripe brambles, and someone has developed quite a taste for them!

Lumps...no thankyou!!

Its been homemade puree-d food for the last 3 months nearly, so I decided to try a chunky puree! I bought a vegetable pork puree, which had little lumps of meat & carrot in it! Total rejection!!! I have tried it a few times, as well as puree-ing my own food not so fine, but he starts to wretch with it!! Hopefully by keep trying him with lumps,he'll become accepting of the feel of them in his mouth, and then I can start to introduce rice & pasta into the purees for added vitamins etc...

My sad little rash...

Poor little D got a nasty wee rash! He was pretty aggravated with it at night. We think it may have been related to his teething...who knows. I took him to the doctor just to get him checked out. Luckily it went after a couple of days!

Tooth number 2

Tooth number 2 has started to peep through! I don't think it has fully broken through, but it is causing much agro! He has not been too happy with the whole teeth thing! So Calpol is keeping everyone sane and happy! Need to purchase a handy 'spoon syringe thing' to give it to him with!

Boden Treat

A little boden treat! I am going to treat myself to a little baby boden outfit for each new size! Their clothing is so lovely...but a little overpriced for a fast growing baby! This is my 6-12 months outfit!

My Supermarket baby!!

A silly post, but a photo worth taking... my little baby boy in a supermarket trolley!! I never imagined he would ever be big enough to fit in one till he was at least one...but 7 and a half months old he was really quite happy in it!!

Farmer Duncs

Baby D has had his 2nd trip in Daddies tractor (1st trip in the snow when he was a baby, and we needed to take the tractor to feed the sheep)...bungee corded in, and very secure, off he went to turn hay! After Daddy turned the air conditioning off him, he nodded off to sleep!

We have our 1st tooth

Its all very exciting for us, but very sore for him....Duncans first tooth has peeped through his throbbing gums on August 3rd while we were on our little holiday down in Galloway at mums! He has been quite unsettled and grizzly with this, so the calpol has been a good friend! It is his bottom left tooth that has pooped through first

In the last few days Duncan has discovered his ears! Lots of touching and pulling of them! It may be a comforter because of his aching gums? Who knows!?

My new favourite website

A friend recommended www.photobox.co.uk to me!! It is a fantastic website that processes your photographs. I keep ordering prints for the house and family, as it is so cheap and easy. I took some wonderful pics of D today on the bales, and I think I am going to enlarge one to a poster to fill a big frame I have in our stove room. I'm torn between these 2!

Buttons & Gadgets

Whether it be mobile phones, house phones, tv remote or chip and pins at supermarkets... he is fascinated. He has started to reach out to touch and press the buttons every time he is in contact with them!

My little boystrous boy!

Duncan is really becoming quite a character! He loves getting involved everything. I had him in the bumbo seat while I was cooking in the kitchen yesterday. He kept reaching out for things, and wanting to do something...his toys weren't exciting enough!! So I eventually put the basin of water next to him, and just let him have fun splashing about. He was soaking, the floor was soaking, the place was a mess, but it was all in the name of good fun!!

The world is his oyster....

Yesterday was his 7 month birthday!! We went to meet Hina in Linlithgow, which is half way point for both of us. We had a nice coffee and cake, a wonder round the shops, and a stroll down to the pond and saw some swans. Yesterday he also got his brand new walker!! He has been using an old one from the 8Os, that has been great, but I just got a bit worried that he was going to tip it. His new walker is wonderful, and he 'glides' about in it, touching and pulling everything in sight!! I think a cottage de clutter is on the cards.

Time for toast

Today, I tried D on his first ever slice of toast! I want to start encouraging finger foods other than rusks and fruit. He was quite interested in my slice of toast for breakfast, which is what made me go and make him a slice, but with unsalted butter. I lay it on his tray, and he immediately picked it up and put it staright to his mouth. He had a little chew & taste, and then a little wretch... he's still not too keen on lumps in his mouth! It'll come I'm sure!! He then continued to mush it up in his hands and make a big mushy mess! Tomorrow he is 7 months.. how time has flown!

The start of hay field dining

Today was wee Ds first dinner in the hay field! Daddy Dunc was busy cutting the field while the weather stayed good, so I took him down his Spag Bol, and wee D, his favourite puree, Chicken, sweet potato & apple, then yogurt for afters! We were joined by the company of Jock & Jess the new sheep dog! I'm sure this is the first of many dinners in the hay field!

Sitting up

Suddenly he seems to sit up himself! I never quite knew when this would happen, as his balance has been all over the place over the last few weeks, but I think this has been down to his tummy being quite often full , and I think the tightness of his trousers were restricting him from sitting up comfortably!! But today, he proved that he was quite independent on his bottom, and sat there confidently! I think his hours whizzing about in his walker, has really helped him strengthen his muscles!

New beginnings

I have a notepad next to my bed which fill in all my little baby stories and baby developments... I wish I had filled it in more, but I haven't. I feel so uninspired to note down things in pen & pencil, so this is why I have started this little blog 'babies and wellyboots'! I take so many pictures of baby D, I want to log them next to little stories, milestones, and his developments! Wellyboots...well, we live on a farm, so they will be the chosen footwear on most of our adventures!

These little a feet are desperate for lift off