YIPPEEE!! Life is great! 

Preston is 3 months old!

Wow, I can hardly believe it. It seems to have gone so fast and I can barely remember what it was like to have no baby to love so much.

Preston is at a really fun age now - he is really interactive and we have such a great time playing all sorts of games. He responds to just about everything really, and loves being sung to, looking at himself in the mirror (he laughs at himself whenever he sees his reflection!), lying on my tummy while i do stomach crunches (well, very small ones), and of course being carried around so he can see what's going on.

He is getting pretty good at lying on his tummy for longer now, and just the other day he rolled over! He is getting a tiny bit more mobile so we have to watch out I think. He can kind of push himself around in a circle - the other day I went to get him out of his cot and he was in the opposite direction!

He loves his toys and can grab them and suck on them. I think his teeth might be thinking about coming through soon which might explain the chewing on his toys and blankets. I can see the two bottom teeth under the gum so it might not be too far away. Today I let him chew on my knuckle, and wow, what strength he has in those jaws! He dribbles a lot too which is a teething sign. My hair and clothes are pretty much always crusty from dribble and spew. Mmmmm. Lucky Dan still loves me because I don't think I'm particularly appealing in this motherly state!

Preston seems to have grown so much in the last couple of weeks as well, so I'm looking forward to having his measurements taken at our plunket appointment on Tuesday.

Tickle me Preston

We're absolutely buzzed at the moment, Preston seems to be developing really really quickly. Over the last few days he's been "talking" in baby language (as opposed to only crying and screaming). He'll happily lie on the floor and chat to himself for 15 minutes or so!

He's also grabbing and holding a teddy-bear rattle now, and just today has started shaking it around to rattle it. Belinda tells me that this is behaviour expected of a baby by the age of 4 or 5 months, so at 2.5 months I think he's doing really well!

Anyway, here's a special treat for you guys... Belinda recorded a sound byte of Preston talking, thanks to her mobile phone:

Preston at 11 weeks - look, he can hold himself up now for quite a while and his head control is really good. Anyone who has held him will know how strong he is, so he will be crawling in no time (yikes!) 

Development Update

Yay, I managed to make myself a contributor to this blog.

Well, Preston is now picking stuff up. His hand-eye co-ordination is definitely improving, he has started to pick up his blankets when lying in bed, and is able to put it into his mouth now. Didn't take long huh!

Skills update

Last week Preston showed signs of being able to reach out for things, so I spent a few days trying to train him to touch my nose. After a few days he got the hang of it and I was rewarded with two slobbery hands figuring out my face! (He has discovered his hands and will lie quietly for AGES watching his hands or eating them).

So now we have been trying to get him to hold toys and it is working - he has a couple of soft toys that he can grab and suck on (mmmm) and he looks so adorable when he's holding or cuddling them.

He talks a lot more too - not words of course, but lots of baby noises that are obviously communication - we copy them back to him and get lots of giggles in return. Preston is so fun to play with!

Do you like Preston's little pirate shirt? It's pretty cool :) Pumpkin Patch did a pirate series of clothes and I've got a few of them - so cute!! 

Happy family :) Preston is 10 weeks old and we spent the weekend with Dad and Karon up at Ruakaka. He was on his best behaviour and was cute all day and slept inbetween the cuteness. (of course the next few days after we came home were rather restless). Preston was stolen by the grandparents and shown off around the neighbourhood :)