Jack loves being on his belly. He likes to take toys out of the basket by himself now. He slides backwards around the wooden floor, luckily not too far yet!
We don't have the baby gate up at the moment as you may be able to see in the photos. Amy didn't need it anymore as she is aware of the hot oven and we don't have any sharp objects in her reach. She's not really as interested in what's in the cupboards compared to a year ago. We will put the gate back up when Jack starts to crawl.
Amy loves to climb. They have great climbing frames at day care which she always plays on. She likes to show me how clever she is at climbing when I pick her up in the afternoon.
We went to a new playground that had some climbing nets. She spent a lot of time climbing carefully up and over them. She was very proud when she did the highest one all by herself.
Jack has become so much chubbier. It's all the food as well as the formula he has been having. He has a bottle before bed and I've also introduced a half-bottle before his afternoon nap. He eats huge amounts of food and still breastfeeds about 4 times a day. Yesterday I weighed him and he was 10.5kg fully clothed.
He has been sleeping so well at night, and done a few all-nighters too! Last night he slept from 7pm-7.15am!
This is magic sand. It's kind of like a cornflour/sand mixture that allows you to manipulate it easily into different shapes. It's very strong and holds together well, a bit like play doh. It's great because it doesn't stick to hands or clothes, only to itself!
Amy and I had fun out in the sun playing with the magic sand while Jack had a nap. We made different shapes and even cut out some letters. She liked cutting it with wooden sticks. We made a pretend birthday cake and she told me it was Pa's birthday.
Today Amy went to lunch with Michael, Nana, Pa, and her Great Nana. She are some hot chips for lunch and shared some with Great Nana.
Amy enjoyed playing with tongs, picking up balls and placing them in a tray. This is great practice for strengthening her hand muscles and coordination. At day care they talk about ways to strengthen the toddlers' hands in preparation for writing. And according to Amy, it's great fun.
Today when Amy was eating her lunch she was having fun playing with her grated cheese. She said to me that she had made a 'V' out of the cheese. I thought she was very clever. I then asked her if she could turn it into an 'A', which she did. She then made a 'T' and 'H'.
She reads letters everywhere. On our car, food packaging, toys, signs and more. I tell her what the words say as she spells them out. I think it might be time for some sight words! She knows the important words already: Amy, mum/mummy, dad/daddy and Jack.
Amy is a little obsessed with the wiggles lately. She loves watching the wiggles on TV, reading her wiggles books, brushing her teeth to the wiggles app on my phone (they sing a 2 minute song about brushing teeth), listening to wiggles music in the car, and lastly, dressing up like Emma.
Emma is her favourite. She tells me she talks to Emma in her bedroom (when she's meant to be napping). She loves watching Emma dance, act and sing.
Amy comments on what Emma wears and so we thought she would love to dress up just like her. We were right. We bought the outfit on Monday and she's worn it almost every day.
Soon we will be thinking about birthday parties! Jack is 8 months and lots of fun! He continues to be the happiest baby ever, always smiling and laughing. I think that has a lot to do with his funny big sister, who is very entertaining! If his smile is big enough, you can see two little dimples right up high on his cheeks, almost under his eyes.
Jack moves around on his belly more now. He can't crawl yet (I think he wishes he could, he becomes frustrated now when he sees a toy he can't get). He slides easily on our wooden floors which he seems to enjoy doing.
I've just dropped him down from 3 naps to 2 in the last few days. The third nap was becoming harder and harder to squeeze in and he seems happy to be awake for up to 3 hours.
He is forever eating! I still breastfeed him about 4 times a day and he has 3 solid meals a day and sometimes an extra snack. He then has a bottle before bed and 1-2 feeds overnight. Hungry boy!
He enjoys more finger foods now including cheese, bread, cooked vegetables, meatballs, biscuits and banana. His pincer grip is improving which makes self-feeding easier. I also spoon-fed him pureed food to satisfy his hunger.
We are still working on clapping hands. I think it was a fluke when he did it on video!
He likes being on his belly most of all, and exploring his surrounds. Amy keeps him very entertained and loves to bring him toys. He kicks his legs when he is very excited and squeals with delight when he is enjoying himself. He seems happy when peppa pig comes on TV. Tonight he was sitting on the rug, staring up at the light. He raised his hand towards the light and observed it for quite some time.
Lately he has only needed one feed in the night. But it's always changing so I just go with the flow.
We hope to get a place at day care for him in about 2 months time as I return to work in early October.
Jack has 2 beautiful little white teeth and I'm sure more will be on the way soon. He likes to put everything in his mouth. He has quite an interest in books and enjoys story time with Amy before bed.
On Tuesday we went to the carnival at Parramatta. It's a winter festival held ever year which has ice skating, a Ferris wheel and other rides, kids craft workshops and delicious food.
Amy went on a few rides (with Michael) but loved the Ferris wheel most of all. We pointed out what we could see from high up in the air. She asked where our house was and we pointed in the direction of it, as well as where her day care and Michael's work was. She was very interested in watching the ice skating and painted a plaster/clay dog.
Jack and I often meet with friends and do some shopping when Amy is at day care. Here are some cute photos of Jack. We went into a pet shop to look at the puppies and the fish tanks.
This t-shirt belonged to Ethan and Ben. I was looking through some clothes for Jack and came across it. It's only a size 2 but Amy wanted to wear it as soon as she saw it. Luckily it fitted and she was very excited!
