week 103

If asked, he can tell you that his birthday is August 26th and that he’ll be 2. He knows his name (though we don’t talk about that here), and he’s getting more and more comfortable around strangers, as long as Mum or Dad are around.

Some special guest photography by uncle Jordan this week

Increasingly, he’s choosing time with Dad when he can have it, but when we are walking along, he’s generally pretty keen to hold hands with both Mum and Dad. We’re trying to get him more comfortable with people apart from his parents, but it’s a slow process.

This week, Mum and Dad have both been sick, leading him – one dinner – to solemnly pronounce “Mum’s a bit sick… Dad’s a bit sick… [Puff]’s a bit sad”. We were worried at first – is he really sad? What about? Should we be doing something differently? We think, though, that he doesn’t know what “sad” means yet, and it’s just a word he’s been saying.

Most of the time, now, when we go somewhere where he’ll be expected to be quiet for a while, we take these Dr Seuss books. He’ll read them, put them in the box and take them out again, and generally remain distracted for a good period of time.

He pulls some amazing faces: here’s one that suggests his capacity for mischief.

It took a fair amount of explanation to get this shot to work – he wasn’t quite understanding the concept, but he had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Jordan nonetheless.

One of his favourite things is to play in playgrounds. He’s getting more interested in climbing on things, but he still has a way to go before he’ll be happy to take the risks involved in some levels of climbing.

When getting ready for bed, he’ll generally ask to play with the Bonjela. We don’t let him actually open it, but he’s pretty happy taking the tube out of the box, and putting it back in again afterward.

Today we went to a wedding for some of dad’s old workmates, and Puff (after a little while being anxious around her) managed to get his first hug from a bride.

He was dressed up for the wedding. It’s no surprise that there aren’t many button-up shirts in his wardrobe: the less fiddly his clothes are, the better in general, but it was good to have him dressed suitably for a such happy day.