Look out...Daniel's about!

No, he's not crawling forward yet, but he is doing very well at moving Backwards, all around the room! And sometimes on his feet and hands (downward dog style). So we are definitely thinking more about childproofing the place. At this very moment he is under the coffee table and just pulled the lamp cable out of the socket.
Yesterday we were practising standing up next to the couch, which was lots of fun (though I can see we will have many bruises from falling down!). However, last night after his bath I sat him down on the mat next to the tub, and he pulled himself up to standing! I was in shock that he was that strong, but it's made me more cautious. Time to lower his bed, and put safety latches on some of the cupboards.

Brrrrrrr....!

Well, as I sit in my warm house, my laptop tells me that it is -1 degrees outside. I haven't really been checking the temperature, maybe I'm better off not knowing! I'm still thinking of taking Daniel out in the stroller though, he's getting pretty good at sitting like a stuffed teddy in the stroller, with the rain cover on to protect him from the chilly air. He can't really move, and he doesn't talk either, just looks around. The hardest part is that when you go inside a store (or the bus), it is really warm, so if I'm going shopping I try to make it quick! It looks like we will have a car to borrow one day a week for a while, so I'm just looking into finding a car seat so I can go to the Superstore.

So far we don't have colds, which is a blessing. And it hasn't rained much either, just a LOT of fog, which sticks around 90% of the day.

I've decided I need to try and have something planned for nearly every day, as Daniel gets bored from my company. I'm looking into an infant program at the library, which does mother goose, stories etc. And I might try the local drop-in playgroup too, even though it's mainly for older kids.

Daniel's bottom teeth seem to be closer, but I've heard they may move up and down for a while. No pics sorry, he doesn't like to show his bottom gums very often! I find it hard to look myself.

Back in Canada

Here are some Christmas photos!




Well, Christmas (and summer) are over for us. It was so great to catch up with so many Aussies. We're sorry if we couldn't catch up, or caught up only briefly. Daniel thrived in the warmer weather, and loved the attention of his family. We're going to miss you all a lot!

We arrived home safely on Wednesday night. There was still a lot of snow around (although you could see grass in some places). As we'd been away for a while, the footpath to our door had a pile of snow on it that we had to climb over to get our luggage inside. Once inside, our place was almost fridge temperature, at 10 degrees! We cranked up the wall heaters, although they took a while to kick in. We made sure Daniel had enough blankets, and put on our singlets, flannel pjs, and woolly socks. The days have been pleasant, around 9 degrees and mostly fine, so we've gone for a few walks while the weather is nice (although pushing the pram through the snow is an interesting experience!).

It rained all morning today, and now it is snowing, looking quite pretty as I gaze out my back door. We've almost finished unpacking, and last night we played Lord of the Rings RISK with our friends Mathew and Ramie (took about 3 hours!). Daniel has slept fitfully so far, and didn't want to go to bed until 11pm last night. But we can't keep sleeping in as we won't be ready for normal schedules next week. So today we got up at 7.30am, and then all had an hour nap at 10am. No crawling or teeth apparent yet.

I (Mareesa) am going to audit a night class called "The Life of Jesus", led by Aussie professor Rikk Watts this semester, which I'm really looking forward to. Nathan is taking the 2nd half of Intro Greek and Intermediate Hebrew, and Biblical Exegesis, a subject which is known to be a heavy load. We may also have a fellow student staying with us one night a week this semester.