Joe at 14 months

A couple of weekends ago Issy and I travelled to Bristol to see the family (and, in my case, to visit the annual HiFi show).  We hadn't seen Joe since New Year, and he's grown up enormously.  Not only is he now walking everywhere, but he's jabbering away the whole time.  No words as yet, but it's only a matter of time. 

Interestingly (and, perhaps, unsurprisingly) the "face recognition" feature on my camera didn't work when Issy decided to hold Joey upside down!

Joe knows that telephones have buttons and are carried in the hand.  Using impeccable reverse logic, he believes that anything which has buttons and can be carried must, therefore, be a telephone.  Here he is chattering happily into a remote control unit...

With his big eyes and blond curly hair, he's a real heart-breaker.  What a sweetie, and we can't wait to see him again at Easter.

Joe at 9 months

Last Saturday I was on duty at an RPS Distinctions Advisory Day in Aberdare, South Wales, and took the opportunity to visit the family in Bristol.  I hadn't seen Joe since June, and he's grown up a lot in the intervening period.  As well as being more mobile - now walking with assistance - he also now has visible hair for the first time (the second picture proves this!).  His coordination has also improved hugely, so self-feeding and clapping are now part of our arsenal.

These pictures were taken on Friday evening, when Joe was feeling well.  On Saturday he had a streaming nose, and by Sunday he was suffering from Chicken Pox (poor thing).  Given that I'm no longer at work, I was able to stay on for an extra day in order to help Frances.  It's a large number of years since I had to deal with a grizzly toddler; but, like riding a bicycle, it all came flooding back.  Joe will be coming to Harston in a month or so, all being well, so hopefully he'll be fighting fit by then.

Give Peas a Chance

With plenty of fruit under our belt, it was time to tackle vegetables - in this case, peas.  These were eaten with exactly the same alacrity (and, it has to be said, lack of coordination) as everything else. 

Sadly I had to leave Joe in Bristol, but it was an absolute joy to spend time with him.  He's a real sweetie, and I look forward to plenty of "adventures" in the future.

Blowing Raspberries (and Prunes)

Having mastered bananas, Joe turned his hand to raspberries.  He was very good at scrunching them up (thereby creating baby jus), but the hit rate was fairly low when it came to putting the results in his mouth.  This is where the spoons (three of them, allowing for the inevitable effects of gravity) came to the rescue.  In addition to raspberries, Joe was being fed some puréed prunes in order to make him "regular".  He loved the prunes, which turned out to be equally good for creating brown face paint.

Having conquered fruit, tomorrow we tackle vegetables...

It's called Fashion, darling...

Joe has now progressed to a "Jolly Jumper" (a cross between a parachute harness and a bungee), and he absolutely loves it.  His coordination isn't great yet, and he will insist on curling his toes up when attempting to bounce, but this doesn't seem to dampen his enjoyment.  I'm not quite sure why, but his mother decided that he needed to wear a hat.  Why?  It's called Fashion, darling (apparently).

We Like Banana!

I was in Bristol last week for a couple of days of RPS Distinctions Assessments, and this gave me the opportunity to visit Baby Joe and see how he was getting on.  He's growing like fury, and is now on solid food.  OK, when I say "solid" I mean "something other than his mother's milk".  On the first evening it was banana for tea, and it was clear that he thoroughly enjoyed the 20% or so which didn't end up on his face, his clothing or all over the floor!

Watch this space for further adventures with raspberries, prunes and mashed peas...

Joe returns to Bristol

You wait ages for Baby Joe visits; and then, like London buses, two come along at once.  Actually, this was essentially the same visit because - as luck would have it - I was doing an RPS Advisory Day in Bristol on Saturday.  This meant I was able to take Frances and Joe back home on Friday, and spend more time with the family once the event was over.

Joe's rather wonderful hat was made by Frances for National Book Day, and is (of course) based on Winnie the Pooh.  Unfortunately the little man has a habit of rotating his hat by up to 90 degrees, causing him to resemble anything from Captain Pugwash to Lord Wellington. 

Frances and Christopher are very keen gardeners, so Joe will need to get used to visiting the local Garden Centre on a regular basis.

We see Joe again some time in May when he and Frances will be coming to stay.  Can't wait.

Baby Joe at 10 Weeks

Harriet and I are in Bristol visiting our little grandson (and, of course, his exhausted parents).  He's absolutely enormous (6.6kg at 10 weeks, which puts him over the 90th centile on the development graphs) and a real sweetie.  Butter wouldn't melt, etc.