Preston is a clever clogs

Preston is getting so clever! He tries to communicate all the time and is saying more and more sounds and talks away to himself and tells us big stories. He is also using a lot more baby signs as well which is really impressive to see, especially when he asks for something specific eg grapes or milk and we say 'ok, here it is' and he is instantly satisfied. We have had hardly any tantrums lately because we know what he needs!

Petey and Karon came to stay last night so they got to see our mischief boy in action and I think they were pretty amazed by Preston's communication.

However, we have discovered one thing we weren't expecting - Preston has made up his own sign for something, but we don't know what it means!!!! So the only tantrum we have had is when he got so frustrated that I wouldn't give him what he wanted, but I was trying - I gave him about 10 options of things that were in his line of sight! Nevermind, we will eventually get it I'm sure. I'll just have to wait til he next has whatever object it is and does the sign for it.

Preston is also getting clever with phones. He LOVES it when people call up and want to talk to him - he listens in delight to peoples voices. So far he can only tell my voice and Dan's voice over the phone. I've been at work almost every day the last 2 weeks and the other day Preston was getting bored of daddy so gave Dan the phone and said 'MAMA!' as if to say 'call up mama please!' And whenever the phone rings, he puts his hand to his ear as though he is answering it.

Remember how I said I had taught him to say Mmm mmm MMMM? Well he says it whenever he has delicious food, and the last few times i've been to the supermarket he goes crazy in the fruit and vege section and wont shut up going MMMM MMMM MMMM!! at all the yummy things he likes to eat. Of course, everyone else in the supermarket just stares weirdly at us....

Preston's tumbling fun

Every week I get a development email from some place I subscribed to when I was pregnant, and it has interesting tips in it for growing kids. This week it suggested advancing early walkers like Preston with balancing activities such as getting them to climb up on something and then fall onto piles of cushions. This sounded like fun!

Preston has just in the last week figured out how to climb on top of his toy box (and today he figured out how to climb onto the couch, so now all our clever Preston-trapping of the lounge needs re-cleverising), so i got out all the cushions and made a big soft area around it. He climbs up and I hold up my fingers saying 1 - 2 - 3! and then he grabs my hands and we do a controlled but fun fall onto the cushions. He LOVES this game! He especially loves the counting, and by the time my fingers are about to make 3, he can barely contain himself with excitement!

He is so cute - if we haven't been paying him enough attention (because we are doing something else) he climbs up onto his toybox and tries to count 1 and he has both hands with 1 finger
up and he tells us he is ready for the tumbling game. What a clever boy!

Remember The Count from Sesame Street? When he counts, he says "1! Ah, ah, ah... 2! Ah, ah, ah..." and so on. We started saying it and now Preston copies! He goes around saying 'Ah ah ah' when he wants to be funny, especially after we have said a number. And when he is eating something yummy he has copied me saying "Mmmm mmm MMMM!" it's so hilarious.

Preston is being very funny and makes us laugh all day long at the moment!

Preston Update

HI, I know it's been ages since I last posted, and I must add more pictures. Here is a photo Melanie took on our girls weekend at Ruakaka.

Preston is 14 months old today, and what a running around mischief maker he is! He loves exploring everything, especially outside, and he's just figured out how to climb up on things (yikes!).

He still does a few baby signs like milk, hat, grapes and a few more, and picks up new ones I teach him really fast, and his vocab is increasing too. He tries really hard to say words and copies us as best he can. Mastered words (well, pretty clear anyway) include Mama, Dada, puss puss, bear, peas, apple (although i think this is his word for fruit), Amber, woof, and he has a pretty good go at saying cheese, biscuit, Preston but they are not quite mastered yet.

He's also mastered all our remotes for the tv/stereo/dvd/xbox/nintendo and turns it on and finds what he wants to watch!

There are finally some teeth - the ones he sprouted over New Year are now fully grown so he has 2 on the bottom and two on the top with another one on the top just sprouted in the last few days. And his hair is starting to thicken out so now he looks like a real little boy.

We still take him to swimming lessons and he loves it, and we go to the Parnell pools during the week on hot days. splashing around is so much fun!

we have heaps of pics to add to flickr so hopefully we'll get onto that soon.

Preston: January 2007

Oops, we've been a bit slack about the posts, so here are some photos of Preston over the last few weeks.

Newsflash!!!

Not only is Preston walking all over the place and driving mummy & daddy crazy with all the chasing we have to do, but he FINALLY grew a tooth! Bottom front right tooth emerged a couple of days ago while we were in Napier and it grows a little more each day. Soon Preston will have a real tooth and officially be a BIG BOY! (he is no longer a baby - he's a small toddler)

Our trip to Napier was great - caught up with lots of people, and Preston got to play with heaps of little kids (even kids at the airport that we didn't know) - he is so curious about other children. He is also extremely curious about everything else now. On the plane I could barely hold him still because he wanted to climb to the window and was pointing out the clouds and land, and then at the airport he was completely mesmerised by all the things going on as we landed. And anything new and interesting that he spies gets a 'oooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO' sound before he rushes over to get it.

Playing the piano with Dan in Napier. 

Having a bit of a relax on Christmas Day at Leigh. 

Well I have been trying to make Preston grow up nice and healthy, but I never expected this! 

Preston walks all over the place now all by himself - he gets more and more confident each day. Here he is having a rest against my legs. He is actually pretty tall! 

Preston likes to help unpack the groceries...everything gets taste-tested! 

Here is a link to our birthday Flickr album.

Preston is ONE!! His birthday was today and we have had a fun celebration all weekend with all his grandparents visiting. Today we had a fun picnic in a park with all his baby buddies and family and friends - and Preston has been in the best mood all weekend. He is so excited to have so much attention! And PRESENTS! Didn't take him long to figure out the concept of presents, and he has been extremely spoilt. Now he has all sorts of amazing new toys and books to play with, so thank you everyone!  

Here is Preston's cool birthday cake!  

Preston is nearly ONE!

Preston is nearly one!!!! Can't believe it. Here he is studying bubbles floating down around him. He thought it was all pretty funny!

Just had him weighed and measured at Plunket today - his stats are 9.13kg and 74cm tall. His walking is getting better and better, so if you are coming to his birthday picnic this Sunday (let us know if you haven't had an invite and want to come as we don't have everyone's email), he will dazzle you with his walking skills!

Sorry!

Haven't posted in ages... sorry about that. The month leading up to christmas is my crazy season - lots and lots of work, and not enough time to do it all! Not to mention that all the cool toys start to come out before christmas!

Preston got to spend a week with a house full of people - Hayden and Darren came here to stay for a week for a break, watched me work and played with Preston when I was busy. He absolutely loved having people around and was his happy usual self.

But the great news for Preston is that he's starting to walk more and more each day. A week ago it was a pivot on one foot - yesterday he took about 5 steps, and today he took about 12. He's pretty much there - he's just getting used to it, and will hopefully be walking confidently in another week or two!

I'll put some new pics up on the flickr too - lost the camera for a week or so :)

Photos of Preston

If you guys haven't noticed yet, I've put a gallery of Preston photos on the right-hand side of the page. I've done my best to add in a photo every day for the last month, and have only missed a couple of days so far :)

You can view the full gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/preston2 or just click on the pics to the right

My operation

As mentioned quite a few posts ago, I was scheduled to have an abdominal cyst removed last week, so here is my story for those of you interested!

I had a mesenteric cyst which would have developed before I was born, and it was kind of 'floating' around in my abdomen, although was attached to various places. It was not inside any organs or causing any problems, but after I gave birth and all my insides redistributed themselves, I could feel a big hard lump so (eventually) went to get it checked out. Both the radiologist and specialist were most curious about it and thought it was a great find as apparently they are not common in adults (they are normally noticed in children while they are young). The specialist said that in 10 years he had never seen one quite like mine and it was very interesting.

So despite having an unusual specimen, it was decided better to be out than in, so that's what happened. Last Thursday I had my plum-sized cyst removed, and now I am recovering. It was done by laparoscopy, so i have two small cuts (about 1cm apparently - they are still covered) on my tummy where they could insert the tools, and a small cut by my tummy button where they removed the cyst. They pumped up my abdomen with carbon dioxide so there is room to see what is going on and not disturb the other tissue and organs. Probably the processing of the co2 afterwards was the worst part as i had pain in my shoulders and really bad pins and needles for about a day in my legs and arms, but it all went away once the co2 got out.

Now i just have to wait til my tummy heals, but every day is significantly better and i should be able to lift Preston today. I haven't been able to give him a proper cuddle for days and days - he had started to forget me a bit. When he first came to visit me in hospital, he really didn't recognise me which was sad, but i must have looked pretty weird. But after i changed out of my blue hospital clothes and put on pink clothes, he knew who i was! He had fun at the hospital, charging up and down the hall and charming all the nurses, what a cute boy.

So that is it really. Nothing very exciting, but just thought I would update you!

Preston is so close to walking - he has really mastered his standing abilities and can even stand up by himself from a crouching position without holding onto anything!

Preston is all grown up now and has a backpack. He can stand without holding on to things, so hopefully he will start walking properly soon! We hold his hands and he can walk and run. Current words: Dada, Mama, Puss puss, (ba)Nana, and lots of sounds. He's just figured out how to make O sounds. 

Watties & Plunket work together to make a wholesome range of baby food, because babies don't always know what's best for them. 

Preston is a star!!

Ok, the suspense is over - I'll tell you about Preston's ad! It was actually a print ad, not a tv ad (but he is shortlisted for a tv ad to be filmed sometime later.). The ad has something to do with babyfood, but they didn't really talk about how it was going to be or what they would do with Preston's pictures. I should have a copy of the ad soon and i'll post it here.

Preston had lots and lots of photos taken chewing on all sorts of objects (like my phone and a remote, both of which are his favourite toys!), so perhaps there is a series of ad, I'm not sure so we will all have to wait.

It was a fun morning, and Preston was given a bag of presents (yay!) and some Pumpkin Patch vouchers (also yay!) as payment for his cuteness :)

Anyway, here are a couple of cute photos of Preston helping himself to the baby food. He had such a great time being the centre of attention!