Week 79 has been peppered with all of Joseph's new words...it seems to be about a word a day...eyes, star, plane, up, down, baa baa (for sheep), truck, choo choo (when he's pushing a train around), toot toot and "roll, roll, roll" from his Diggers book.

Dan and I went to a first aid course at Bear Park on Wednesday night, something we probably should have done when Joseph was first born. At least we know what to do now when it comes to CPR, choking and broken bones.

We were lucky enough to borrow Phil and Jo's bach in Piha over the weekend and we went out on Friday afternoon (Dan took a half day from work). We had a great time and some very nice weather. Joseph loved the beach - the sea and the sand...and had a couple of meltdowns when we had to forcibly remove him from the beach.

There is a new playground near the camping ground which we spent a little bit of time out...here is Joseph being the captain of the "Sea Scout".

We had fish and chips on the deck on Saturday afternoon, just managing to catch the last of the sun. Joseph didn't eat any fish but quite enjoyed the very salty chips.

He also didn't mind a bit of Dan's beer!

Continuing the theme from last week, here's another picture of Joseph and me.

Finally, I've alluded to Joseph's gatecrashing ability...here's some photographic evidence. This large family group were constructing trenches and castles between the lagoon and the beach and Joseph rocked up and started to "help". To their credit, they let him join in. He was absorbed for an hour or so and he ended up getting so wet that we had to take off all his clothes and then he had black sand everywhere (and it is all over the car now too!). He slept for three hours on Sunday afternoon - he was so knackered.

There weren't many photos taken to mark week 78 of our life with Joseph...he seems to have recovered well from the grommets operation but the check up with Bruce (GP) revealed a possible recurrence of the chest infection...he suggested using the puffers again but we're still stalling on that.

Here's a rare picture of Joseph and me...having breakfast together last Tuesday morning. We've been using a booster seat so Joseph can sit at the table with us so I think the high chair might be put away soon.

We were going to get Joseph a trike for Christmas but have had to fast track this purchase as he has been gatecrashing gatherings at Cornwall Park to use other families' toys (and eat their food and playing with their balls...this also includes tantrums when Dan drags him away)...so, on Sunday, Joseph became the proud owner of this red, blue and yellow trike.

Unfortunately, for us, he now prefers this to his ride-on motorbike and he wants us to push him around (as illustrated when we got home from work/daycare today and he spied his trike). It shouldn't be long until he gets the hang of the pedals though.

We continue to take advantage of Joseph's interest in sweeping and put him to work helping Dan clean up the garage on Sunday afternoon.

Week 77 was the week Joseph had his grommet operation...this happened on Thursday 6th September. We had a very early start, needing to be at the hospital at 7am. The worst part for Joseph ended up being the fast from midnight. I don't think he's ever been denied food for so long (although he ended up breaking the fast with a bottle at 7.45am.

I carried Joseph into the theatre and was surprised to see about eight nurses gathered (as well as the anaesthetist), I stayed with him until he went to sleep and then was shown to the recovery lounge where I waited - but only for about 20 minutes and then Mr Baber appeared at my side to say the operation had gone very well and that it had been well worth doing as Joseph had had a lot of fluid/mucous in his ears.

Jenny, the recovery nurse, thought Joseph might like some jelly and ice cream to help him feel better. It did indeed and he ended up scoffing it!


So, since Thursday, Joseph has been eating like an absolute man possessed - he's been very happy. We think he might be doing more "talking" but who knows whether that is due to the grommets or being fully recovered?!

Here's some pics of Joseph eating the cheese today...he couldn't quite wait to get it to the bench for me to cut a slice for him (bad parenting I know!).




And finally, here's a pic of our big boy looking super cute (in a farm boy kind of way!).

Week 76 saw the beginning of a very bad health breakdown for the Warren family. Joseph's ear infection came back - along with a temperature and conjunctivitis. So, we did the right thing and kept him home from Bear Park for what ended up being a week...we tried to go back to see Mr Baber (ENT surgeon) but his nurse recommended that we book in for grommets. We kept him home so that he would be in the best shape possible for the operation.

In the meantime, I came down with conjunctivitis as well as tonsilitis (the GP did suspect glandular fever but that blood test came back negative) and Dan had to look after the entire family. It was a bit of a nightmare to be honest.

Joseph and Dan went to the park every day, sometimes twice a day. Joseph has really got into the animals and now makes the right noises - mooing, baaing, neighing and crowing. It it quite sweet.

Here's a selection of pics showing Joseph "talking" to the chickens.




There are lots of interesting people in the park who are always up for a chat. Here's Joseph getting to know some malamutes.