Week 32 of Joseph's life saw us at the doctor for the third week in a row. This time with a chesty cough and runny nose (green snot - gross!). So, we've got yet a another kind of antibiotic to try for ten days! He definitely picked this up at Bear Park as when I collected him on Thursday afternoon a couple of the Moreporks (big kids) gave Joseph a cuddle goodbye and they both had runny noses! At the time, I thought that wasn't a good sign and that we'd see similar symptoms soon enough at 35 Tawa Road!!

We turned Joseph's car seat around last Monday so he now faces forward...another step on the way to becoming a big boy! He was a bit unsure of it at first but after a few days I think he quite likes it. It is lovely to be able to turn around and see eachother when I stop at the lights or an intersection and he gives me one of his big smiles.

Joseph's sitting is coming along well however this seems to be at the expense of any crawling! He seems to prefer sitting at the moment to anything else.

These past few weeks of sickness have put Joseph off his food - well, that's not quite true, he eats really well at daycare but pfaffs around a bit at home. I'm hoping he'll come right on the eating front on his own accord. Here is a pic from this morning's breakfast - nb poor posture, lots of vegemite on the face and hands!

Joseph was seven months old on Tuesday 17th of October - week 31. Monday 16th saw us doing the rounds of medical professionals with a visit to the GP for Joseph's squirty bottom and chesty cough. We're on our second lot of antibiotics and things seem to be improving (at both ends!). He was very tired last weekend and spent quite a lot of time asleep (very unusual!).

Then we had our seven month check with Plunket. Unfortunately, the weigh-in didn't meet our expectations of 10 kilos and Joseph is weighing in at 9.47kg (about 20 pounds). To be fair, he is still well in the high percentiles and he has been off his food for a couple of weeks due to his various ailments! His appetite has picked up this week and he's been waking about 4am and chugging back a good 250mls in about 5 minutes. Bear Park have noticed how hungry he has been and he's been making good progress through their daytime menu (including scones for afternoon tea on Wednesday). Here's the latest Warren Family weight chart - as you can see Joseph's gains have slowed down!

As you know, we usually give Joseph a shower but now that he can sit properly, we have dragged out the old baby bath and are using that as well. Joseph loves hitting the water and splashing about. He can sit in there for ages!

With the improved sitting has come standing (I think the activity centre has also strengthened his legs) and here is a pic of me and Joseph. He looks a bit pensive I think but he's been like this while he's been sick - he's nearly back to normal in terms of being smiley and chatty!

Week 30 was rather dismal for all of us due to our first experience with a vomiting and diarrhoea bug that affected Joseph, then Dan (quite badly) and then me (just a little bit). Poor old Joseph didn't know what was going on and he has been off his food and milk all week. Dan had to pick him up from Bear Park on Tuesday and he didn't go to Bear Park on Wednesday.

So, I've decided not to discuss that grossness any further (although big thanks to Mum and Denise for helping us clean up Joseph and his bed on Friday night and for Mum to doing all the washing on Saturday before she flew out to the UK!) and rather focus on Joseph's latest acheivements.

He's just started to sit unaided - he looks so cute and so grown up! He also sits with a very straight back which apparently is required if you're going to play in the front row!

Joseph also likes to lie on his back and grab his knees, feet, toes and trousers.

The high chair is going well (just a pity that he's not so keen on eating at the moment due to his tummy bug!). He is a very good helper during feeding and likes to have two spoons - one for him and one for the feeder! This gets very messy but seems to be the most effective way to get food into him.

Finally, a smug parent moment - a picture of Joseph looking very angelic, asleep after a walk in the park with Dan.

Week 29 was characterised by Joseph recovering from his chest infection - he had his first lot of antibiotics. These went down a treat due to their orange taste!

As you've seen before, Joseph has a shower with Dan nearly every night. For many weeks, Joseph was all floppy and didn't really interact with the water. That has started to change since his back/neck strength has improved...so much so that now he puts his face in the water, his hand up to the shower rose and likes to put his head under the water and look at it as it courses off his head.

Just to finish off the baptism post...Dan has put some photos up of the baptism but he did it as a link off last week's post. I've had some feedback that people couldn't find them so have a look at last week's and the link is in green. Here's a pic of Joseph and his new favourite person, his Godfather, Matt. Joseph was always really happy to see Matt when he was staying with us giving him lots of smiles and cuddles.

Mum and Dad were here for a couple of days enroute to Bristol to see Kate and her new baby, Alfie (born end of Sept). They bought Joseph a high chair from Ikea (rumours are that Ikea is opening in NZ late 2007 - thank goodness!!). Joseph is still getting used to it and he tends to bob around a bit, hence the need for a bolster towel! Here's pic of Joseph having his first meal in the high chair courtesy of Grandad BQ.

Week 28 (or 6 and a half months!) culminated in Joseph's baptism in Christchurch on Sunday 24th September. Dan is going to do a separate baptism post so this one concentrates on the day to day activities of a busy monkey!

We borrowed an "activity centre" from our friend Jennifer (she is my personal baby shop as she has absolutely everything and is very generous in allowing us to borrow lots and lots of stuff). Joseph LOVES his time in his work station and seems quite happy to suss out how to make all the toys/activites work. Dan had him outside so it was a super-duper learning experience as he could feel the grass on his barefeet as well!

We flew to Christchurch on Friday 22nd and remembered to document Joseph's flight.

In Christchurch we stayed at Mark and Lucy Sutherland's house - such a great set up (amazing views) as Joseph was able to use all of Ben's things - cot, highchair and toys. Here's a couple of pics of Joseph asleep in Ben's cot and also his first time in a highchair.